Agric & Biotech

Director General of National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr. Rufus Ebegba, has said that regulators of modern biotechnology need to be necessarily trained so as to ensure that Nigeria benefits maximally from the technology. Dr Ebegba made the observation while opening a training session for staffers of the agency organised in conjunction with M and A Global Projects entitled, “Capacity ...

It has become the norm for the Nigerian biosafety chief, Dr Rufus Egbeda, to rise to the defense of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). This was my response to some participants (not Nigerians) at a high profile meeting, who also saw this article published on Premium Times “Nigeria bio-safety chief defends GMOs” on October 9, 2017, and were visibly alarmed that ...

Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State on Monday, October 23, 2017 in Akure, the state capital, signed Memoranda of Understanding with two firms on agricultural projects and appealed for speedy take off of the projects. Akeredolu signed the MoU for the construction of a powderised egg factory with Greenfield Poultry Ltd. The second MoU with Adventum Global Inc, USA, was ...

Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, says that only 40 per cent of Nigeria’s arable land is under cultivation. Adamu, who said this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday, October 23, 2017 in Abuja, called for increased investments in agriculture, as the situation had elicited serious concern. He said that ...

The Rainforest Rescue has taken up a campaign to urge the European Union (EU) to ban glyphosate, the active ingredient in herbicides such as Monsanto’s Roundup. According to Rainforest Rescue, a not-for-profit organisation, glyphosate is not only used in industrial agriculture, but also on playgrounds, in parks and gardens, and on roadside vegetation. The European Parliament will on Tuesday, October ...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has developed a new initiative called the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) initiative – a knowledge and innovation-based response to the recognised need of scaling up proven technologies across Africa. Already, 25 African countries have written letters to the AfDB confirming their interest and readiness to participate in TAAT, and help transform their agriculture. ...

Soil scientist, Prof. Ayodele Odofin of the Federal University of Technology in Minna, Niger State, has called for more attention on agriculture to increase profits, food security, preserve, and enhance the resource base of the nation and its environment. The don made the call when he delivered the 56th Inaugural Lecture of the university titled: “Nigerian Soil Resources: The Neglected ...

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) says 5,400 agro-inputs dealers and farmers have benefitted from its three million dollars Feed the Future Nigeria Agro-Inputs Activity. The Nigeria Mission Director of USAID, Stephen Haykin, said in a statement in Abuja that the three years Agro-Inputs Activity had built approximately 1,400 agro-inputs dealers and 4,000 smallholder farmers. Haykin said: ”It demonstrated the ...

Mrs Edel-Quinn Agbaegbu, the Secretary, National Biotechnology and Biosafety Consortium (NBBC), says biotechnology will address the onslaught of pest and disease challenging crops growth in Nigeria. Agbaegbu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday, October 20, 2017 in Abuja that biotechnology or Genetically Modified (GM) crops had been offered as a modern crop development tool. She said that ...

Nigeria’s image received a boost on Thursday, October 19, 2017 before the international community as former Agriculture Minister, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, formally received the 2017 World Food Prize (WFP) Laureate award in the U.S. Adesina was conferred with the laureate in Des Moines, U.S. during which he committed the $250,000 cash prize to set up a fund for financing African ...