Post by Ismail AbdulAzeez on Sept 9, 2018 15:07:47 GMT 1
FG ENDORSES NEW SEED COMPANIES, PARTNERS OGUN IN FISH PRODUCTION
In a bid to tackle the challenge of poor seedlings in the nation’s agriculture, the Federal Government has authorized one hundred and fifty-eight new seed companies to begin production of quality seeds.
The Director-General of the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC), Dr. Philip Ojo, made this known during a press conference in Abuja.
Ojo revealed that the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, licensed the companies to tackle the problem of poor seedlings.
He said that the new industries include sixteen new small-scale companies, one hundred and thirty-three entrepreneurs and nine seed dealers, making one hundred and fifty-eight in total in which one hundred and forty-eight are Nigerian outfits while ten are foreign.
The Director-General, however, noted that although a deficit in seed availability still exists, it would be bridged to an extent with the new approvals.
“The Governing Board of NASC under the chairmanship of the Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has ratified and approved the licensing of 158 new seed entrepreneurs of different categories to add to the existing 156 already operating’’
He added that “We all know that presently, the seed supply-demand gap is still wide and there are more calls from our neighbouring countries that look up to us for their seed supply."
As part of efforts aimed at boosting fish production in Nigeria, the Federal Government has said it is partnering with the Ogun State Government to bolster aquaculture.
The partnership was disclosed by the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Heineken Lokpobiri, during the commissioning of four projects built by the ministry in Eriwe, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.
In his remarks, the minister stated that the projects were intended to make the estate a real fish farming cluster where the farmers would fully appropriate all the advantages of the fish farming value chain.
The aide explained that the Federal Government was particularly interested in the state because the success of agriculture in Ogun meant a lot to Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
“There is still a lot that needs to be done because our national demand is about 3.5 million metric tonnes and we are producing only about 1.1 million metric tonnes, which means that we are only producing about one-third of our national demand.” he added
The Eriwe fish farms, which has over 3,000 fish ponds scattered over an estimated 156 hectares of land area, with an average fish farming production turnover of about 2,500 metric tonnes annually and income generation of about N2 billion annually, is the biggest fish farming estate in Africa.
The projects commissioned include fishing farm estate, feed mill, cold room, fish market and the processing unit.
In a bid to tackle the challenge of poor seedlings in the nation’s agriculture, the Federal Government has authorized one hundred and fifty-eight new seed companies to begin production of quality seeds.
The Director-General of the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC), Dr. Philip Ojo, made this known during a press conference in Abuja.
Ojo revealed that the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, licensed the companies to tackle the problem of poor seedlings.
He said that the new industries include sixteen new small-scale companies, one hundred and thirty-three entrepreneurs and nine seed dealers, making one hundred and fifty-eight in total in which one hundred and forty-eight are Nigerian outfits while ten are foreign.
The Director-General, however, noted that although a deficit in seed availability still exists, it would be bridged to an extent with the new approvals.
“The Governing Board of NASC under the chairmanship of the Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has ratified and approved the licensing of 158 new seed entrepreneurs of different categories to add to the existing 156 already operating’’
He added that “We all know that presently, the seed supply-demand gap is still wide and there are more calls from our neighbouring countries that look up to us for their seed supply."
As part of efforts aimed at boosting fish production in Nigeria, the Federal Government has said it is partnering with the Ogun State Government to bolster aquaculture.
The partnership was disclosed by the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Heineken Lokpobiri, during the commissioning of four projects built by the ministry in Eriwe, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.
In his remarks, the minister stated that the projects were intended to make the estate a real fish farming cluster where the farmers would fully appropriate all the advantages of the fish farming value chain.
The aide explained that the Federal Government was particularly interested in the state because the success of agriculture in Ogun meant a lot to Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
“There is still a lot that needs to be done because our national demand is about 3.5 million metric tonnes and we are producing only about 1.1 million metric tonnes, which means that we are only producing about one-third of our national demand.” he added
The Eriwe fish farms, which has over 3,000 fish ponds scattered over an estimated 156 hectares of land area, with an average fish farming production turnover of about 2,500 metric tonnes annually and income generation of about N2 billion annually, is the biggest fish farming estate in Africa.
The projects commissioned include fishing farm estate, feed mill, cold room, fish market and the processing unit.
