Economy
FG Releases 49 New High Yield Crop Varieties to Farmers
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Federal Government of Nigeria has released 49 new high yield crop varieties to farmers through the National Varieties Release Committee (NVRC) to boost food production in the country.
This was disclosed by Mr Oladosu Awoyemi, the NVRC Chairman at the 30th meeting of the National Committee on Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Varieties, Livestock Breed/Fishes in Ibadan, Oyo State yesterday.
He explained that “All the 49 hybrid varieties of 11 crops submitted for consideration, registration and release by the Nigerian research institutes and private sector seed companies were approved for release.
“The released crop varieties include two rice hybrids namely Arize 6444 Gold and Arize TEJ Gold.
“Two high protein-rich oat varieties namely SAMOAT 1 and SAMOAT 2, three Durum wheat varieties namely LACRI-WHIT 12D and LACRI- WHIT 13D.
“Three pro-Vitamin A hybrids cassava, namely UMUCASS 52, UMUCASS 53 and UMUCASS 54.
“Nineteen maize varieties namely ILOMAZ 2; HAKIM 1, HAKIM 2; HAKIM 3; DK7500; SAMMAZ 64, 65, 66, 67; Drought TECO WE8206; WACQH6, WAC55E, WAC14M5, among others.”
On the activities of NVRC, he said the decree that set up the committee makes it mandatory “for anybody who wants to release new varieties of crop into the Nigerian farming community to send samples of that seed to research institute that is relevant for it”.
“The research institute will test such seed across the ecological zones for which it is recommended.
“And, when they are satisfied that it is suitable for cultivation in Nigeria, then, they will bring it to the committee to officially consider it for release on registration.
“We have a national register of all important that are produced in Nigeria that has been certified by the committee.
“And, if there is any new research officer who wants to go into any crop he has to go into the register to see what has been done in the past before he can now start of what to do in the future,” he explained.
In his remarks, Mr Mohammed Al Hassan, the Commissioner for Agriculture in Jigawa, who sponsored the release of Durum Wheat said, “this is the first time hard wheat (durum wheat) would be registered and released to Nigerian farmers.
According to Mr Alhassan, Durum wheat is very high in yielding as it has very low fertilizer requirement, and produces big grains which are attractive and the price is different in the markets which make it give farmers high earnings.
He said that the expectation of farmers in Jigawa was to continuously improve varieties of various crops planted in the state.
Mr Alhassan said the vision of the state government “is to make sure that economy of the country was improved through agriculture for the benefits of Nigerians, especially people of Jigawa.”
On his part, Mr Sheu Ado, the National Coordinator for Maize Research, said the development in the new crops varieties were encouraging.
According to Mr Ado, some crops, which are not even grown previously in the country, such as oat, “is now being cultivated to improve the availability of food in the country.
“If we can grow our own oat, then, such amount of money expended in foreign exchange on importation of oat will be conserved for the country.”
In his remarks, Mr Olusegun Ojo, the Director-General of National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), said the 49 crops that have been officially released by the committee would be passed on to the council.
Mr Ojo said the council would make arrangements for wide multiplication of the crop for distribution to all farmers across the country.
“The expectations of the farmers will be higher yields, better resistance crops and at the end of the day, what farmers will be taken home as a result of the higher yields would be higher productivity and more income in their pockets.
“The process of getting a crop released for broad distribution involves testing the seed at research institutes and on farmers’ fields across the country.
“It is only when representatives of farmers have accepted that the crop is good for them and that such crop is better than the old varieties, then we bring it to the committee for consideration for official release,” he said.
Adding his input, Professor Abdullahi Mustapha, the Director-General, National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), said the agency was saddle with the responsibility of looking into the genetic constituents of the crops.
“Looking at it from that angle, this is the transformation of the crops and bringing in new varieties of the crops; it affects genes constituent so the gene threat is what defined the quality, the yield and characters there.”
By Dipo Olowookere
A 1.08 per cent growth was further printed by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday on improved appetite for Nigerian stocks.
Data showed that the insurance sector lost 0.61 per cent yesterday due to profit-taking as the energy space gave up 0.08 per cent, while the commodity counter closed flat.
However, the industrial goods landscape appreciated by 2.06 per cent, the banking index improved by 1.31 per cent, and the consumer goods sector expanded by 0.83 per cent.
At the close of business on Customs Street, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,563.92 points to 147,040.07 points from 145,476.15 points and the market capitalisation went up by N996 billion to N93.722 trillion from N92.726 trillion.
UAC Nigeria led the advancers’ log yesterday after it grew by 10.00 per cent to N96.80, Transcorp Hotels jumped by 9.71 per cent to N172.80, Royal Exchange appreciated by 8.89 per cent to N1.96, Ikeja Hotel soared by 8.74 per cent to N31.10, and Veritas Kapital leapt by 8.07 per cent to N1.74.
On the flip side, Union Dicon declined by 10.00 per cent to N6.30, ABC Transport slipped by 9.88 per cent to N3.10, AXA Mansard depreciated by 7.19 per cent to N12.90, FTN Cocoa lost 4.62 per cent to trade at N4.75, and Guinea Insurance dropped 3.36 per cent to finish at N1.15.
A total of 38 stocks ended on the gainers’ table and 17 stocks finished on the losers’ table, representing a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Traders transacted 361.6 million equities for N14.8 billion in 21,051 deals yesterday versus the 1.9 billion equities worth N19.2 billion traded in 23,369 deals a day earlier, showing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 80.97 per cent, 22.92 per cent, and 14.20 per cent, respectively.
The busiest stock for the session was Zenith Bank with 59.5 million units worth N3.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 46.1 million units valued at N973.0 million, Fidelity Bank exchanged 29.4 million units for N560.4 million, FCMB transacted 27.9 million units worth N293.9 million, and Tantalizers sold 13.0 million units valued at N29.8 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Energy stocks influenced the 4.76 per cent loss recorded by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Friday, December 5.
The culprits were the duo of 11 Plc and Nipco Plc,with the former shedding N32.17 to end at N291.83 per share compared with the previous day’s N324.00 per share, and the latter down by N21.00 to sell at N195.00 per unit versus the previous session’s N216.00 per unit.
Consequently, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) slumped by 170.16 points to 3,401.37 points from 3,571.53 points and the market capitalisation lost N101.81 billion to close at N2.035 billion from the N2.136 trillion quoted in the preceding session.
The OTC securities exchange suffered the decline yesterday despite the share prices of three companies closing green.
Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc was up by N1.80 to close at N39.80 per share compared with Thursday’s price of N38.00 per share, Air Liquide Plc appreciated by N1.09 to N11.99 per unit from N10.90 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc grew by 78 Kobo to N56.57 per share from N55.79 per share.
During the session, the volume of transactions rose by 6,885.3 per cent to 18.2 million units from 4.3 million units, the value of transactions ballooned by 10,301.7 per cent to N389.7 million from N347.2 million, but the number of deals declined by 29.7 per cent to 26 deals from 37 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units valued at N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units worth N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units worth N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated further against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, December 5, as FX demand pressure mounts.
The Nigerian currency lost N2.60 or 0.18 per cent against the greenback to close at N1,450.43/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.83/$1.
Equally, the domestic currency declined against the Pound Sterling in the official forex market during the session by N4.48 to trade at N1,935.45/£1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,930.97/£1 and shrank against the Euro by 43 Kobo to end at N1,689.17/€1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N1,688.74/€1.
Similarly, the local currency performed badly against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX counter by N2 to close at N1,455/$1 versus Thursday’s N1,453/$1 but traded flat at the parallel market at N14.65/$1.
As the country gets into the festive period, pressure mounted on the local currency reflecting higher foreign payments and lower FX inflows.
However, there are expectations that the Nigerian currency will be stable, supported by interventions by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the face of steady dollar Demand and inflows from Detty December festivities that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month.
Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450/$1 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.
As for the crypto market, it was down yesterday due to profit-taking associated with year-end trading. However, the December 1-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation by the University of Michigan fell to 4.1 per cent from 4.5 per cent previously and 4.5 per cent expected. The 5-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation fell to 3.2 per cent from 3.4 per cent previously and 3.4 per cent expected.
With the dearth of official economic data of late, these private surveys have taken on a new level of significance and the market banks of them to make decisions.
Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 5.7 per cent to $0.4142, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 5.1 per cent to $0.1394, Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 3.9 per cent to $3,039.75, Solana (SOL) declined by 3.8 per cent to $133.24, and Litecoin (LTC) fell by 3.7 per cent to $80.59.
Further, Bitcoin (BTC) went down by 2.6 per cent to sell at $89,683.72, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 2.2 per cent to $883.59, and Ripple (XRP) shrank by 2.1 per cent to $2.04, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
-
Feature/OPED6 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism9 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz3 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking7 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy3 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking3 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Banking3 years agoSort Codes of UBA Branches in Nigeria
-
Sports3 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn
1 Comment