The large and growing African youth population has been described as an incredible resource which needed to be tapped into to usher in a new era of economic prosperity in the fast growing agriculture and food sector.

HE Federal Government has resolved to go tough on fake fertiliser producers as they have been selling the commodity to unsuspecting farmers who have raised alarm over the damages done to their farmlands and produce.

Two new hybrids of maize that will help improve productivity and income of farmers in Nigeria have been released at the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IART), Obafemi Awolowo University in Ibadan.

Partners and funders of the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa (DTMA) Project this week convened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to take stock of the project. DTMA concludes its work in Africa after eight years of work on improved drought-tolerant maize, to help maize farmers in sub-Saharan Africa mitigate drought.

Two New Hybrid Maize that will help improve productivity and income of farmers have been released in Nigeria.

HarvestPlus’s Global Director, Product Development and Commercialization, Wolfgang Pfeiffer has promised that the body will continue to work with partners to ensure that many more vulnerable people to hidden hunger are taken care of.

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.