Rislan

Professor Mohammed Faguji Ishiyaku Executive Director, Institute for Agricultural Research Samaru, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria Theme: Research for National Food Security And Economic Growth 29th March 2021  Venue: Mamman Kontagora Square, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria   Protocol: 1.     It is a rare privilege and honour for me to stand to address this distinguished audience and to witness another Opening Ceremony of the Annual Research Review and Planning Meeting of the almost a century-old IAR. Last year, this event could not hold owing to the dreaded coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which began with a partial to total lockdown of activities in the country and globally. In compliance with government directives and our desire to safeguard our teeming partners and stakeholders from unnecessary exposure to risks, we deemed it fit to put on hold this important activity in 2020. 2.     This year by sheer benevolence of the Almighty, we a...

  Professor Mohammed Faguji Ishiyaku                                                                  Executive Director, Institute for Agricultural Research Samaru, Paper presented at the Ahmadu Bello University Agric-Vet Complex Symposium on Agriculture at Mamman Kontagora Square, on The Need For Paradigm Shift In Agricultural Research As Panacea To Attaining Optimum Economic Diversification; 29th March 2021   Preamble Nigeria, our dear Nation is blessed with numerous resources, among which fertile arable land and a large expanse of territorial water dot our landscapes from Bayelsa to Sokoto, from the Mandara mountains to Obudu mountains; from the plains of Yusafari to the Jos plateau. Agriculture is indispensable in our dear Nation's economy, yet we have moved from a net e...

 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 ...