Rislan

 Muhammad Rislan ymahmad@abu.edu.ng The Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) Samaru has obtained the green light for the registration and release of highly productive varieties of maize, sweet sorghum, and cotton in Nigeria. The approval was granted at the just concluded 29 th meeting of the National Varietal Release Committee (NVRC), through the National Committee on the Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Varieties, Livestock Breeds and Fisheries held at the National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB), Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. At the meeting, five improved maize varieties,   SAMMAZ 59, SAMMAZ 60, SAMMAZ 61, SAMMAZ 62 and SAMMAZ 63, with an average yield potential above 5.0 tons/hectare and tolerant to maize streak virus, rust, leaf blight, and curvularia leaf spot were approved for registration and released. The varieties, SAMMAZ 59 and SAMMAZ 60 have an outstanding characteristic of high pro-vitamin A content of 16.3 μg/g which are...

Muhammad Rislan @rislan1 In case you are wondering why Africa is still underdeveloped, then here’s a part of the reason. An excerpt from the book ‘The State of Africa- A History of Fifty Years of Independence’ by Martin Meredith sheds light on the plight of the African farmers and the culpability of the developed economies to keep him perpetually dependent on foreign aid.  “Determined to protect their own producers, industrialized countries operate a system of subsidies and tariff barriers that have crippling effect on African producers. The total value of their agricultural subsidies amounts to 1 Billion Dollars a day - 370 billion a year- A SUM HIGHER THAN THE GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT OF THE WHOLE OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA. The European Union subsidy for each cow is about $900 a year - more than the average African income; the Japanese subsidy is $2,700 per cow. Western surplus produced at a fraction of their real cost are dumped on African markets, undermining domestic producers...

  Muhamad Rislan @rislan1 As we strive to create an online social space for leisure, our actions are fast becoming a measure of our character. In recent times prospective employers (more than 80%) have confirmed that they check the social media profile of prospective job seekers to gauge their character. In fact, some embassies require you to disclose your social media handle (not password) as part of their background check. Although, most employers view LinkedIn as the most relevant platform, some others are still interested in your more personal social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I am not a job creator yet, but if I were to be one tomorrow, I will know whom to employ from the Facebook updates of my friends. You are a graduate (or student) of let's say, agriculture, yet your profile shows no content of your educational background, it also shows no analysis of the current trend affecting your field. Nothing!! Zilch!! Abin takaici, matasa da ya kamata ...

  Muhammad Rislan @rislan1 In August 2019, Nigeria partially closed its land borders and banned the importation of rice. We all celebrated (or most of us) because we hoped this landmark decision would increase our productivity and ensure we eat healthy (freedom from expired rice according to our customs officials). Well, what we failed to put into account is the economics of food production which by some stroke of misfortune our well-trained economists and agricultural experts were too ignorant to brief the nation on so that we can brace ourselves for what is to come. Perhaps, our economists are best suited for market speculations and not the real economy. Subsidy is a word we are all too familiar with, and it especially gained notoriety when Nigerians learned about how fuel subsidy was used to bleed our public coffers to a coma. We, the masses, came to hate all things subsidized. However, while we are busy subsidizing consumption in the late '80s, the developed economies (and ...

As the COVID-19 confirmed cases continue to soar, the government continues to implement and extend lockdown as of its the only tool in its tool box. But it’s not. And the set up of our economy is not designed (if at all there is a design) to cope with this closure let alone handle it. A total lockdown unconditionally forces the citizens to stay at home but can go out to get essential services such as groceries or see a doctor or get drugs.  If you don’t provide essential services, you will close shop and go home and rest. However, in our highhanded approach to most things that have to do with the masses, even the markets selling foods and drugs have been shut. An abuse of government power here. On the other hand, a partial lockdown is just like a total lockdown but with more services allowed to operate with strict regulations. Services such as supermarkets, pharmacies, convenience stores, hotels, factories, restaurants, railways and bus services can be allowed to operate. This ...

The Ahmadu Bello University ’s Faculty of Agriculture and the Institute for Agricultural Research Samaru will present a series of webinars focusing on COVID-19’s impact on agriculture in Africa. The first webinar will be held on Wednesday, April 29, at 12 noon. West Africa Time (WAT). The presentation, “COVID-19 Pandemic/Lockdown: Innovative Agricultural Research Activities,” will be delivered by Professor Mohammad Faguji Ishiyaku , Executive Director, the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) Samaru, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria. The Food and Agriculture Organization has estimated that 60% of the world’s people depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. COVID-19 is a global pandemic that is already having tangible effects on the agriculture sector. According to the Brookings Institution, COVID-19 could result in a global loss of $2.4 trillion to over $9 trillion in gross domestic product this year alone. And according to the World Bank, agriculture accounted...

Coronaviruses are viruses in the subfamily Orthocoronavirinae, in the family Coronaviridae, order Nidovirales, and realm Riboviria. The main symptoms of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, are fever, dry cough and shortness of breath. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) , diagnostic testing for COVID-19 is critical to tracking the virus and suppressing its transmission. At a Covid-19 media briefing on Monday, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, 'We have a simple message for all countries: test, test, test,” The question is; why is the most populous black nation on earth lagging behind on the simple aspect of testing, testing, and testing? To answer, we need to understand how CODID-19 is tested and confirmed. As a holder of a diploma in Laboratory science, and a plant breeder with a background on molecular breeding, I reckon I can delve into this topic with the hope that expert...