Articles by "Agriculture"
Showing posts with label Agriculture. Show all posts
Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

An outbreak of Bird flu also known as Avian Influenza has hit Plateau state, killing at least 3,900 birds.
Dr Spak Shaset, the Chief Veterinary Officer of the State told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Jos, that the outbreak has affected two farms in Jos North and Jos South Local Government Areas of the state.
“Sometimes in January, when we heard of an outbreak of the dreaded disease in some part of Bauchi state, we knew Plateau is at risk.
“I immediately summoned our divisional health officers in the 17 councils, and in less than 72 hours after we met, report got to us of suspected cases in some farms in the state.
“We immediately swung into action and took sample from the farms to our labs and it was confirmed it is bird flu.
“Without hesitation, we went and depopulated the farms to avoid further spread of the disease to other farms.
“More than 3,900 birds were destroyed; 2,900 from the farm in Jos South and 1,000 in the farm in Jos North,” he said.
Shaset said the two farms were decontaminated, disinfected and quarantined to avoid further spread to nearby farms and have other poultry farmers incur loses.
The official said the government had taken positive and stringent steps to avert the further spread of the disease to other areas of the state, which if left unattended to, could also transmit into human beings, which according to him, could be very disastrous.
Shaset charged poultry farmers and live bird marketers to step up bio-security and hygiene measures within and around their farms and markets.
He advised Plateau residents to avoid the sale, slaughtering and consumption of sick and dead birds to avoid being infected.
Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

Some poultry farmers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), on Sunday expressed delight as they recorded high patronage ahead of the Christmas celebration.
The farmers, who spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, said in spite of the economic hardship, the level of patronage was encouraging.
Samuel Magaji, an old layer bird farmer in Gwagwalada, said that he had about 3, 000 birds and sales had been encouraging in the last few days compared to 2017.
Magaji added that due to paucity of funds, he was not able to rear so many birds as he would have wanted.
“I am very impressed with the level of patronage despite the economic hardship in the country, people are still buying.
“If the level of patronage continues the way it is going, all my birds would have been sold before Christmas.
“Some customers said they were advised by their doctors to avoid beef and red meats for health reasons, and should eat fish or chicken,’’ he said.
Magaji said that some old layer birds were going for N3, 000 and 4, 000, depending on the size, adding that they have rich taste than the broiler birds.
However, Mrs Sarah Kaka, a broiler bird farmer in Kuje Area Council, appealed to the government to support farmers with soft loans to boost their businesses.
Kaka said that poultry farming could promote the Federal Governments diversification of Nigeria’s economy if supported with soft loans.
According to her, poultry farming was capital intensive, saying that it was expensive to purchase farmlands in FCT as well as other farming inputs.
She said average size of broiler went for N3, 500, while a bigger size was between N4,000 and N5,000, depending on the size.
“I am very happy with the level of patronage so far, but due to lack of funds, I was not able to rear many birds as expected.
“Poultry farming in Nigeria is probably one of the most lucrative farming businesses you can do but requires adequate funding for it to thrive.
“The farmers we presently have are not producing enough poultry products because of inadequate funding.
“The government, especially ministry of agriculture should assist farmers with soft loans to enable us boost our business,’’ she said.
Another poultry farmer in Abaji Area Council, Mr Audu Musa, lamented the increase in the price of feeds, saying that it affected the prices of chicken sales during Christmas season.
He said that he had to increase the price of his chicken during the yuletide to enable him recover his capital and also make a little profit. (NAN)
Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

Women farmers under the umbrella of Small-Scale Women Farmers Organisation in Nigeria (SWOFON) have called for restoration of scrapped Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) scheme.
They made the call at the end of a two-day annual national farmers forum for smallholder women farmers organised by Actionaid Nigeria, an NGO.
In separate comments at the event, the women said they lacked access to improved seeds and other farm inputs, which the GES was meant to provide.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the scheme was initiated by the immediate-past Minister of Agriculture, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, for Nigerian farmers.
GES was a farm support initiative through which registered farmers had access to quality seeds, fertilisers and agro-chemicals at 50 per cent subsidised price.
However, the scheme was bedevilled by many challenges, including supply of substandard inputs to farmers.
This prompted the current administration to announce its replacement with the Agricultural Inputs and Mechanisation scheme (AIMS).
Mrs Ngizan Chahul from Benue said since the GES was scrapped, it had been difficult for her and other fellow woman farmers to access quality inputs.
She appealed to the Federal Government to come to their aid by either restoring GES or ensuring effective implementation of AIMS to boost productivity.
She equally urged government to closely monitor its intervention programmes to ensure that they were not hijacked by “political farmers”.
Mrs Suzan Godwin from Nasarawa State said that women farmers ought to be involved in the policy formulation process to protect their interests.
Another participant from Benue, Mrs Bridget Adejo, appealed to the Federal  Government to make the location of silos it recently established known to them.
This, she said, would enable smallholder farmers to locate and take advantage of the storage facilities to avoid post-harvest losses.
Another farmer, Mrs Bola Adebayo from Osun, urged government to buy insurance for farmers who lost their crops to farmers/herders clash and to also address the situation.
However, Mrs Aisha Abubakar of the FCT Agriculture Development Project, urged the women not to wait for government to do everything for them.
Abubakar noted that they could engage the services of extension workers under the Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) in their respective states.
Mrs Constance Okeke, the SWOFON Board Chairperson, thanked Actionaid Nigeria for providing the platform and support to the association since inception.
The forum attracted women farmers from the 36 states of the federation to deliberate on their challenges and to seek solutions.
Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

Thailand’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Wattana Kunwangse, says his country will provide technical expertise in production for rice farmers in Kebbi.
Kunwangse gave the assurance on Friday when he paid a courtesy call on the Emir of Argungu, Alhaji Samaila Mera, in Argungu.
“The aim of my visit to Kebbi State is to explore ways of promoting the development of the rice value chain via the training of rice farmers in new methods of rice production which we have in our country,’’ he said.
The envoy reiterated the commitment of the Thai government to train farmers and officials of the state Ministry of Agriculture in new methods of rice farming.
“Thailand’s government will sponsor rice farmers to acquire agricultural training to boost their production; our focus is to develop agriculture, particularly rice production in Kebbi State,’’ he added.
Kunwangse stressed that the bi-lateral agreement between Thailand and Kebbi State in this regard would be mutually beneficial.
He however, called for more commitment in efforts to actualise the objectives of the agreement.
Speaking, the state Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Attahiru Maccido, said that “the state is a leading rice producer in the country, courtesy of the Anchor Borrowers Programme launched by President Muhammad Buhari in November 2015.”
Maccido said the programme had raised the production capacity of rice farmers in the state from 300,000 tonnes of rice per annum to over two million tonnes.
He pledged the state government’s readiness to partner with the Thai government or any relevant agency in efforts to develop the rice value chain in the state.
The Emir of Argungu, Mera, commended the government of Thailand and the Kebbi State Government for the collaboration aimed at boosting rice production in the state.
Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

No fewer than 500 rice farms at Okpotuwari and Ondewari communities in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa, have been submerged by flood, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
Mr Ezekiel Ogbianko, Chairman, Rice Farmers Association in the state, who inspected the submerged farms on Wednesday, called on the federal and state governments to come to the aid of the affected farmers.
At Ondewari, a community leader, Prof. Itimi Godwin, said that the rice farms were ready for harvest before the disaster.
“We need a lot of things, particularly we want the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to come and see the level of damage done here.
“As you can see, this is a colossal loss; we are calling on the federal government to come to our aid, as the people here are suffering. We need relief materials such as rice, garri, cement and roofing sheets,” he said.
NAN recalls that NEMA had earlier said that over 150,000 people have been displaced by flood in Bayelsa this year.
The site manager of Ondewari Rice Farm, Mr Fredrick Adam, said the loss was colossal and the farmers would appreciate immediate support from government.
Also, the Paramount Ruler of Okpotuwari Community, Chief Tiger Moses, said that the community was expecting bountiful harvest before the flood.
“As you can see the flood is very disturbing, our crops have been destroyed, fish settlement and plantain farms are also damaged.
“We want the assistance of the federal government and other stakeholders; right now our sources of water have been contaminated,” he added.
Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

The Consul-General of Denmark in Lagos, Mr Per Christensen, on Monday said that Nigeria could produce food for some 600 million people through the application of the right technology.
Christensen said at a One-day Danish Food Tech Exhibition and Seminar in Lagos that Nigeria has a rich arable land and population for bumper food production.
He said that Nigeria, with her arable land, population and weather, had the possibility of producing more food than Brazil, if the farmers engage in technology-driven farming.
“Let me say that the agricultural development potential in Nigeria is bigger than that of Brazil when Nigerian farmers engage in technology farming.
“Nigeria can produce food for 600million people through the application of the right technology,” he said.
The consul-general said it was imperative for Nigeria to rededicate herself to increasing food production for Nigerians, as well as regaining her position as a net food exporter.
He said that agriculture was an area of common interest to Denmark and Nigeria, and Danish companies were prepared to introduce farming technology to Nigerian farmers.
Christensen said that the development of agriculture should be an important area of cooperation for Nigeria and Denmark in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
According to him, there are currently about 30,000 full time farmers involved in food and dairy products production in Denmark.
He said that the Food Tech Exhibition and Seminar was organised to expose stakeholders in Nigeria’s agriculture sector to the existing technology for food processing and value Chain.
The visiting Danish companies are active in areas of logistics and cold chain, breeding and genetics, agro-industry and processing equipment, food and grain analytical equipment, ingredient and financing.
The Marketing Manager of BIC Electric, Ms Katarzyna Michalczyk, said she was in Nigeria to meet Nigerians and know of the existing opportunities for her company in Nigeria.
Michalczyk, a representative of one of the visiting Danish companies, said that the company would soon start doing business in West Africa, which would create sustainable jobs for local people.
Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.


A Kaduna Chief Magistrates’ Court, on Tuesday discharged a 40-year-old herdsman, Mohammed Burtu, charged with receiving a stolen cow.

The Magistrate, Mr Ibrahim Emmanuel, discharged Burtu, a resident of Karau-Karau village in Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State, for “lack of diligent prosecution’’.

At the resumed hearing of the case, the prosecutor, Insp. Musa Abdullahi, asked for an adjournment, to enable him to present the investigating police officer.

Emmanuel, however, refused the application, noting that the case had been severally adjourned because of non-availability of prosecution’s witness.

The magistrate reminded the prosecutor that at the last sitting, he promised to produce the witness on the next adjourned date.

“The case has suffered series of adjournments at the instance of the prosecution.

“Every person charged with an offence is considered innocent until conviction.

“It is no longer in the interest of justice to adjourn the matter again, due to the failure of the prosecution to produce its witnesses in court.

“I hereby invoke Section 165 of the Criminal Procedure Code, to strike out the matter and discharge the accused for want of diligent prosecution,” Emmanuel said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that on Dec. 12, 2017, one Adamu Yusuf, reported the case at the Kabala West Police Station on April 17, that one of his cows was stolen from him at gunpoint.

Abudullahi said that on Jan. 12, the complainant went to Sabon Birnin Market in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, and found his stolen cow in the possession of the defendant.

He said that during police investigation, the defendant claimed that he bought the said animal from one Mohammed Isah, now at large, who claimed to be the owner.

The prosecutor said that the offence contravened Section 278 of the Penal Code of Kaduna State, 2017.

Burtu had pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

President Muhammadu Buhari says the Federal Government is committed to boosting Nigeria’s economy through Agricultural revolution and is already recording progress.

The President made this statement on Tuesday while commissioning the automated rice seed and seedling factory in Cross Rivers State capital, Calabar.

He applauded the Cross Rivers state Governor, Ben Ayade, over his contribution to Federal Government’s Agricultural revolution.

“When we assumed the reins of leadership of our dear country, this administration launched a zero oil economic roadmap as a way of making our country less dependent on oil while encouraging investment in other sectors of the economy, particularly agriculture.

“Indeed this factory speaks loudly about the giant strides we are making in agriculture as a country. This monumental project for which we are gathered here today is a marvel to behold.”

The automated seed and seedling factory is believed to be the first in Africa and the President is confident that the seedlings from the factory will improve rice production and sufficiency nationwide.

“The factory which is said to be the first in Africa is an automated plant with a capacity to produce high yielding vitaminised and disease resisting rice seedling.

“What we expect is that the seedlings from this factory will improve rice yield from current nation three to four tonnes to about nine to 10 tonnes per hectare to ensure rice sufficiency in the country,” he said.

President Buhari said further Governor Ayade is establishing various people-oriented projects because he has keyed into the Federal Government’s revolutionary vision.

“I must say that visiting the state (Cross Rivers) for the second time within three years in connection with people oriented and the flagship project of Governor Ayade is very welcomed and very satisfying to me.” LR News
Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.
Ebonyi rice ready for export

Gov. David Umahi of Ebonyi has appointed a former Nigerian Ambassador to Mexico, Chief Lawrence Nwuruku and a former Minister of State for Power and Steel Chief Goddy Ogbaga, to manage two rice mills in Ikwo and Izzi Local Government Areas (LGA).
Nwuruku, also a former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) National Commissioner, would manage the Ikwo Rice Mill, while Ogbaga was appointed the Chairman of the Rice Mill, located in Iboko, Izzi LGA.
Umahi made the announcements on Friday during the novelty football matches involving the various arms of governments and parastatals in the state as part of events to mark the 2018 democracy day celebrations.
Former Nigerian Ambassador to Mexico, Chief Lawrence Nwuruku

The governor commended the organisers of the novelty matches, noting that the excitement had reduced the blood pressure of spectators at the refurbished Pa Ngele Oruta Stadium.
He also announced a donation of N5 million to participants of the matches with the six winning teams getting N500, 000 each.
“The four-runners up will get N400, 000 each, while the officials would also get N400, 000,” he said.
NAN reports that Ogbaga and Nwuruku recently declared their intentions to run for the Ebonyi North and Central Senatorial seats of the state respectively. LR News
Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

Governor Nasiru El-rufai of Kaduna State has inaugurated a tractor assembly plant of Springfield Mahindra in Kaduna that would produce 3,000 tractors yearly.
With the inauguration of the plant, the state was being positioned to be an investors destination by providing an enabling environment, the governor said on Wednesday.
He assured prospective investors of his administration’s support in realising their investment target.
El-Rufai said the tractor that would be assembled in the plant would not only empower farmers, but enable the state boost its food production.
“With this, Kaduna state will be able to produce a lot of food. These tractors will go a long way in ensuring that we have more mechanised farming,’’ the governor said.
El-rufai said that there were not more than 30,000 tractors in the whole of the country,
“What this plant will be producing will be more than 10 per cent of what is already in the country which means in a few years we will be able to double the figure,” he said
Earlier in his address, Mr Tarun Das, Managing Director Springfield Mahindra tractor Assembly plant, said the plant was expected to produce 3,000 tractors per annum
According to Das, 20 million U.S. Dollars had been invested in the project which would create 200 jobs when fully operational within the next two to three months.
Meanwhile, Gov. El-Rufai also performed ground-breaking of the construction of the Kaduna Hilton Hotel.
He said that the hotel, located along Muhammadu Buhari Way, would have 200 luxury rooms, conference rooms. LR News
Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.
Invasion by monkeys

Invasion by monkeys from natural habitat is forcing many residents of Soluyi/Sosanya  Community  in Gbagada, Lagos State, to flee.
Some of the residents told the NAN in Lagos on Monday that they could no longer withstand the situation.
They called on the state government to save the community from the trouble, saying that the animals forced their ways into their rooms, destroying window and door nets, food stuffs and other items.
The Chairman of the community’s Landlord Association, Mr Adigun Olaleye, said that it had become difficult for the community to curtail the monkeys and their destructive attitude.
He said that the invasion might have resulted from the nearness of the community to a swamp forest that separated the community from Ifako area.
According to him, the monkeys come into residences at any time including early morning and gain entrance into rooms even if the houses are locked.
Olalaye told NAN that the community had written a letter to the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture as regards the situation but had yet to get a relief.
“They said we would have to pay for them to come and pack the monkeys,” he said.
He said that the invasion had been on for years but recently became unbearable.
Olaleye  appealed to the state government to urgently intervene.
Narrating her ordeal,  a journalist who lives in the community, Mrs Funmilola  Gboteku, told NAN that the monkeys had forced her family to flee.
“Many times, these monkeys come to the neighbourhood to destroy our property. Once they see food items inside a house, they direct all their energies at gaining entrance forcefully.
“The monkeys are in the habit of tearing the protective nets on windows to gain entrance and eat whatever they find in the house.
“I have had to replace the protective nets several times;  I am tired of doing it.
“I have been locking my windows but locking of windows has disadvantages; there is no cross ventilation in the house, and as a result, we suffer heat,’’ she told NAN.
Another resident, Mr Gabriel Omopariwa, said that he was tired of the destructive attitude of the monkeys and had tried to look for ways to stop them, to no avail.
“On several occasions, these monkeys have destroyed our kitchen nets to gain entrance and steal food items.
“Several traps have been set to capture and kill these demonic animals to no avail.
“One of my neighbours, while trying to pour chemical on a monkey, fell in the bowl of the chemical; she had to be rushed to a hospital.
“She still lives with the scars from the unfortunate incident,”  he said.
Mr Joshua Folowosele, a landlord, said that the monkeys entered his wife’s shop on many occasions to eat gala, biscuits and other foods.
“We have tried to poison them on many occasions, but those monkeys are too smart; once they perceive the smell of the food, they usually detect it has been poisoned.
“Some of them have been killed with guns, but we cannot keep shooting in a residential area; it is very risky.
“Those of us who are landlords can testify that these monkeys have been disturbing us for years.
“One of the landlords here had to sell his house to move to another place when he got tired of the disturbance,” Folowosele said.
Another landlord, Mr Oluwatosin Aregbesola, said that his tenants were no longer feeling safe in the house because of the monkeys.
“The monkeys enter kitchens to eat our soups and any food stuff on the shelf.
“The day I tried to catch one of them, the monkey attacked me by using its long nails to punch a hole on my neck and scratch my face,” he said.
Aregbesola appealed to the state government to save the community from the menace. LR News
Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.

Annual inflation in Nigeria stood at 14.33 per cent in February, slowing for the 13th month in a row.
It is driven by a decline in the pace of food price increases, the statistics office said on Wednesday.
The food price index showed inflation at 17.59 per cent in February, compared with 18.92 per cent in January. Core inflation was 15.13 per cent last month.
NBS head Yemi Kale said in January he expects inflation to fall faster this year compared with 2017, but that spending ahead of 2019 presidential elections could stoke prices.
Expert advises FG to invest in Agriculture

Food price inflation has remained in high double digits over the last year.
Kale has said the country is in a harvest period and output is increasing, which would help lower food prices, but household consumption remains fragile after the 2016 recession.
A stand-off that has affected Nigeria’s ability to set interest rates may also be coming to an end, with the possibility of a rate-setting meeting as early as next Tuesday.
Nigeria’s upper house of parliament has said it will start screening new members of the Central Bank’s interest rate committee after it held up some of President Muhammadu Buhari’s nominees in a political spat.
The bank has kept its main interest rate at 14 per cent for over a year now as it battles inflation and seeks to attract foreign investors to support the naira currency.
Nigerians are happy over the development as reflected in tweets on Wednesday.
SEGUN @SegunAndrews said: “It’s been 13 months after Nigeria recorded her first disinflation, this was after several months of persistent rise in the inflation rates.
Today, the country recorded 13th consecutive drop in the economic index.”
“Nigeria is doing well in taming inflation as data shows 14.33 pct,” oludare mayowa said.
Proshare Nigeria advised that the policy makers and economic managers in the country need to pay urgent attention to the declining trend in the PMI in order to nip it in the bud. LR News
Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.


The Federal Government on Sunday announced that Thailand had commenced moves to establish rice mills in Nigeria.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed this during a tour of some rice farms in Kebbi State.

He said the Federation Government had won its fight against rice importation, particularly from Thailand, as Nigeria had reduced its importation of rice by over 90 per cent.

“As we speak today, Thailand rice growers are making passionate appeal to the Federal Government. What they are doing now is that they want to set up rice mills in Nigeria, which means we have won,” Mohammed stated.

When asked again to explain why Thailand rice producers were pushing to set up mills in Nigeria, Mohammed replied, “Yes, Thailand wants to set up several rice mills in Nigeria because we have stopped importing from them.”

The minister stated that Nigeria was able to cut down on the importation of rice from Thailand from 644,000 metric tonnes two years ago to a little over 20,000MT currently.

Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.
Gov. Aminu Tambuwal

Sokoto State government has spent N64 million in the procurement of 100 different equipment for farmers in order to support their farming activities in the state.
Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State stated this on Saturday during the inspection of some farm sites in Sokoto.
Tambuwal said that the equipment include five supper tiller machines, 50 tomato grinding machines, 40 rice handheld harvesters and five mini tractors.
On the FADAMA III agricultural project in the state, the governor said Sokoto state farmers have implemented 1,786 business plans for rice, sorghum and tomato value chains.
“The total number of participating farmers stands at 24,546; made up of 21,631 male and 2,915 female,” he added.
Tambuwal said the state would construct 1,000 tube wells to provide enough water to farmlands for the 2018 irrigation season in the state.
“The water levels in our dams are very low and will not be enough to serve the needs of our farmers for the dry season farming.
”To overcome that challenge, experts suggested we seek for alternative ways of watering our farmlands.
“In that regard, we decided to construct 1,000 tube wells in different locations across the state. This effort will enable us meet our target for the 2018 cropping season,” he said.
Latest Reality Blog is a legal blog where you are updated on online latest news, gist, entertainment, events, motivational text, and genue articles.
President Muhammadu Buhari in a group photograph with members of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative and Fertilizer Supplier Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN) Committee, after a meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday. Above, President Buhari, 5th from right, Audu Ogbeh7th left, Chief of staff, Abba Kyari, 4th left, Governor Badaru, 3rd left. Ogbeh reports Buhari’s government blamed for collapse of rice mills in Thailand

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Audu Ogbeh says Thailand has accused President Muhammadu Buhari’s government of being responsible for the collapse of its seven rice mills as rice importation from  Nigeria fell drastically.
The minister made this known at a meeting of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI) and leadership of the Fertiliser Producers and Suppliers of Nigeria (FEPSAN) held at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday.
The meeting was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Ogbeh said Thailand’s Ambassador to Nigeria made the “accusation’’ when he visited him in February.
According to the minister, the ambassador lamented that the collapse of the rice mills has increased the unemployment rate in his country from 1.2 per cent to 4 per cent.
“Just like two weeks ago, the Ambassador of Thailand came to my office and said to me that we have really dealt with them.
“But I asked what did we do wrong and he said unemployment in Thailand was one of the lowest in the world, 1.2 per cent, it has gone up to four per cent because seven giant rice mills have shut down because Nigeria’s import has fallen by 95 per cent on rice alone.
“So, Mr President we thank you for the support and we thank all the agencies and those of you in the private sector for your resilience,’’ he said.
The minister, however, alerted the nation on what he described as alarming smuggling of fake fertiliser and rice along the western borders of the country.
He, therefore, called on the Federal Government to take drastic measures to check the trend as all previous diplomatic measures had failed to address the menace.
“But one last request Mr President, we have to take one strong measure against our neighbour to the West. The smuggling is really compromising our capacity on our result.
“Too much rice, too much fake fertilizer is still coming across the borders into this country in spite of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) we have with them they are not listening.
“Maybe if the Federal Government takes one tough action, they will come and renegotiate the terms because good neighbourliness means reciprocity.
“We can’t be allowing them to survive at our own expense and I believe that we will do something about it,’’ he said.
Ogbeh appealed to FEPSAN to adjust their blending formula using little more micro nutrients for some crops like cocoa, cashew, plantain, banana and others that would soon be revived by his ministry.
The minister noted that the agricultural sector had created millions of jobs for Nigerians in the last two years.
He said: “People may say what they like about jobs. Recently I heard that we lost four million jobs. Nobody has calculated the millions and millions of jobs created on the farms.
“So, this programme as it grows can only make us stronger.
“As soon as more dams and lakes are put in place, you begin to sell fertilizer all year round and not wait for the rainy season alone.’’