A biotechnologist, Prof. Dele Fapohunda, has urged the Federal Government to formulate a mycotoxin policy in the country that will among other things determine and regulate the amount of aflatoxin in food consumption.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, have said that the current difficulties being faced by Nigeria’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in accessing funds to develop their business will be greatly reduced by the strengthened credit reporting system and the launch of a national collateral registry (NCR) for moveable assets before the end of the year.

A major importer of rice in the country, Pearl Universal Impex , is set to commit one hundred million dollars into the cultivation of 7,500 hectares of rice farm and construction of two rice mills in Niger state.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Arc. Sonny Echono, was in Lagos recently for the inauguration of the Nigerian Agric Business Group. He took time out to talk on the vex issue of rice waiver, the Growth Enhancement Scheme and the efforts of the ministry in creating jobs through youth empowerment as well as what they are doing in terms of agric financing.

One of the biggest problems Presidents and Prime Ministers face, virtually all the time, is who to believe among their Ministers and Advisers – especially those who are recruited from international organisations. President Ibrahim Babangida had nothing less than four Nigerian economists who had worked for the World Bank before coming on board to help midwife the Structural Adjustment Programme, SAP, which was later to give his administration the bad name it has failed to shed till today.

“We have ended the dominance of government and I am optimistic that the private sector will lead Nigeria in restoring its past glory in agriculture. “ He continued “On this ground, we are together inaugurating the Agribusiness Investment Inter-Ministerial (AIM) Working Group today as a show of our commitment in delivery on our promise to facilitate your investments from early stage and throughout the investment life cycle.

Ogodo said when the governor finally came back from his trip; he also said that they could not farm on the land. “I swear to God, I lost everything and the only thing I have is the piece of paper which is the C of O. The nursery we planted have grown substantially, we have cleared substantial part of the land. We also paid this lecturer, Dr. Getty Njah, N20 million as total survey cost,” he concluded.

The four committees on the operationalization of Federal Government storage and Agro Processing facilities Resuscitation of Cotton, Textile and Garments, strategic Action Plan for the Development of Grazing Reserves and Stock Routes Nationwide and Revitalization of Agricultural Extension Services in Nigeria, made far reaching recommendations based on their terms of reference.

AN international environmentalist and agriculturist, Dr Vandana Shiva, has raised alarm over the proposed introduction of Genetically Modified Organisms, GMOs, in Nigeria and other African countries, describing it as suicidal. Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja organised by Health of Mother Earth Foundation, HOMEF, Shiva said that Monsanto and other food corporations from the West were out in Africa to make huge profits and enslave African farmers at the expense of their well-being.

Cashew nut yields can be boosted by as much as 78% with weaver ants only, and 151% with ants and GF-120 bait sprays, when treatments incorporating the African weaver ant (Oecophylla longinoda) are employed against Béninois insect cashew pests. The researchers carried out their two-year study on a cashew orchard in the Parakou area of Bénin. First they divided the cashew trees into three blocks. Each block was then divided into four treatments, each with 72 trees.