‘E-agriculture will create 500,000 jobs for youths’

Following the rate at which some sectors of economy are being neglected by Nigerians, agricultural experts who are versed in on-line business have alerted the Nigerian youths to the economic benefit and employment opportunities of e-agriculture which has been under tapped in the country.

The experts, at a forum on “e-agriculture and its role in reducing unemployment and hunger” in Lagos recently said the youth unemployment rate can be reduced by 14.2 per cent by e-agriculture if properly utilized.

On the other hand, organisations like RISE and other like organisations should without fainting keep the grassroot and community enlightenment, empowerment quest going which may be little, considering the youth population of the country but go a long way to effecting change in people’s lives.

The YPARD Local Representative in Lagos, Kalu Samuel said millions of rural farmers have access to phones or at least have a phone that can make and receive calls and unemployed youths should utilise the Information and Communication Technology channels like Bulk SMS, to create a platform for communication with these rural farmers and create time to physically see and encourage their works. 

To read more, ‘E-agriculture will create 500,000 jobs for youths’

Adapted from National Mirror.

Trinidad and Tobago Sees Boost in Agricultural Production

Trinidad and Tobago is seeing growth in agricultural production, according to the country’s Ministry of Food Production.

The twin-island nation’s agricultural sector expanded by 5.1 percent in 2013, with a corresponding two percent drop in the country’s food import bill in the last three years.

In a statement issued by the Ministry of Food Production last week, the government said that, after two decades of decline, the sector has been showing improvement due to factors like improved roads, improved irrigation systems and new technologies like hydroponics.

To read more, Trinidad and Tobago Sees Boost in Agricultural Production

Adapted from Caribbean Journal

TUBER CROPS-an important alternative food source of energy

Tuensang: Tubers are modified plant structure enlarged to store food for the plant.  Of the two types of tubers, i.e., stem and root tubers, more importance has been attributed to the root tubers in the diet of the common person. Their high contributions of carbohydrates in the limited availability of rice have made the tuber crops, particularly colocasia indispensable as energy source. In Nagaland, more importance has been given to colocasia and tapioca based on the level of consumption and area under such crops.

Colocasia/Taro: Colocasia has its origin in South-Central Asia. 
Nutritional facts
• Corms  has more calories than potato, 100g provides 112 calories
• One of the finest source of dietary fibre; 100g of flesh provides 4.1g or 11% of daily requirement of dietary fibre
• Taro leaves as well as yellow fleshed roots have significant level of phenolic flavonoid pigment antioxidants such as- carotene and cryptoxanthin along with vitamin A
• It also contains good levels of some valuable B-complex group of vitamins such as pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), folates, riboflavins, panthothenic acid and thiamine.
• Further, the corm also provides some important minerals like zinc, magnesium, copper, iron and manganese. In addition the roots have very good amount of potassium.

Cassava/Tapioca: Originated in Brazil of Latin America.
Important features
• It is one of the cheapest source of carbohydrate
• Tapioca produces more calories per unit area per unit time
• Plants are highly adjusted to different climatic factors
• It is an important low cost source energy source for livestock
• Tapioca is also used as raw material for industrial starch and fuel alcohol

To read more, TUBER CROPS-an important alternative food source of energy 

Adapted from The Morung Express

Japanese companies use ICT to boost farming

To give a fillip to farming, companies like Fujitsu are promoting research to bring in innovation through Information and Communication Technology or ICT.

In Japan's Shizuoka Prefecture, the company runs a project called Akisai, a cloud computing service, to support farming.

In this greenhouse, various types of environmental data are collected and an appropriate condition is automatically controlled from the computer centre.

Since climate change is a big concern in Japan, it is important to control the environment for greenhouse horticulture.

The environmental control box is the information gateway to the computer center and is the intelligent operator of the equipment.

Akisai is already used by about 160 clients, including educational institutions, where future farmers study streamlined operations and business management.

To read more, Japanese companies use ICT to boost farming

Adapted from Business Standard

Calling goat farmers!

MONTEGO BAY, St James — Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Roger Clarke has urged farmers to prepare to significantly increase the rearing of small ruminants as the Government intends to import less goat meat into the country.

"We are self-sufficient in pork and in poultry, but we import a lot of mutton. We eat a lot of curry goat, but some 80 per cent of the goat meat we eat is imported. We want to change that and that is why we are seeking to improve our programme for small ruminants," Minister Clarke said.

He was addressing last Wednesday's 58th Annual Hague Agricultural Livestock and Food Show in Falmouth, Trelawny. The show, which attracted thousands of patrons, was held under the theme, 'Empowering youths in agriculture: grow what we eat, eat what we grow'.

The agriculture minister, while congratulating the farmers for the work they have been putting into their farming activities resulting in the sector recording more than 10 per cent growth in the last quarter of 2013, indicated that there was still much more work to be done.

To read more, Calling goat farmers!

Adapted from Jamaica Observer

US$630k for flood recovery

Bridgetown—During recent missions to St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines, the head of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) operations in the Caribbean formally signed livelihood rehabilitation and resilience building assistance totalling US$630,000. The assistance, given in response to requests from the governments of the two countries, will facilitate recovery efforts in the aftermath of severe weather brought on by a low-pressure trough which passed through the region in December.

St Vincent
St Vincent and the Grenadines was most severely hit by December’s weather. Widespread flooding and landslides led to the tragic loss of life and millions of dollars in damage to the island’s infrastructure. The country’s agriculture sector will receive US$320,000 to quickly rehabilitate the livelihoods of affected vulnerable farmers that would otherwise face food security and livelihood issues. This effort will complement and supplement on-going national efforts. 

St Lucia
In St Lucia, preliminary assessment of damages to the agricultural sector has shown a significant impact on bananas/plantains and vegetables, root and tree crops and livestock production. Drainage and irrigation systems were damaged as well as farm roads and riverbanks.

FAO’s US$310,000 in aid will be distributed in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Production, Fisheries, Cooperatives and Rural Development. It will allow both government-owned forest areas and farmers’ fields will be cleared and cleaned, and windbreak trees will be planted where necessary.

To read more, US$630k for flood recovery

Adapted from the Trinidad Guardian.

Proposal for Greening of Livestock Chains Open for Review

GLOBAL - Environmental footprinting methods on feed, poultry and small ruminants have been released for public review, which the FAO says is a major achievement towards the greening of livestock supply chains.

Members of the Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance (LEAP) Partnership, a multi-stakeholder initiative led by FAO, met in Rome for their Annual Meeting and have announced the release of draft footprinting guidelines on feed, poultry and small ruminants for public review.

Organizations, public bodies and citizens are invited to go through the draft guidelines and provide the LEAP secretariat with their feedback. The public consultation will last from mid-March until end of July 2014.

The LEAP Partnership has taken a major step towards the shaping of harmonized sector specific methods for measuring the environmental performance of livestock sectors.

        After one year from their kick-off, the Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs) on feed, poultry and 

        small ruminants have conveyed on draft guidelines for submission to public review.

        These methods are self-supporting technical documents relying on Life Cycle Assessment 

        (LCA), a quantitative and science-based method to assess, monitor, improve and communicate 

        the environmental performance of products and systems.

To read more, Proposal for Greening of Livestock Chains Open for Review