Tanzania generates US$100mn from cotton sales

Bimini1002015-01-22T14:20:51-05:00

The Tanzanian government has revealed it has earned between US$90mn and US$100mn from cotton sales annually. Tanzania Cotton Board (TCB) noted that Tanzania’s cotton industry is facing challenges with seed germination. According to TCB, cotton is grown in 15 regions spread across two zones which are Western which includes Mwanza, Shinyanga, Simiyu, Geita, Tabora, Mara, Kigoma, Singida and Kagera, while the Eastern zone has Morogoro, Iringa, Coast, Tanga, Kilimanjaro and Manyara. “It should be clear that, there are no seed production farms [...]

February 11, 2015 ARTICLES Comments OffRead more...

New potato varieties for Kenyan county

Bimini1002015-01-22T14:16:26-05:00

Kenya’s Nyandarua County government is partnering with National Potato Council and German Technical Cooperation Agency to produce new potato varieties. Daniel Waithaka Mwangi, governor of Nyandarua County, said that the potatoes would be processed in factories to produce value-added products. "The first step will be to initiate production of clean seed of the appropriate variety and then supply them sufficiently to all potato farmers in the county and scale up the production to sustain the processing demand of the potatoes,” stated [...]

February 9, 2015 ARTICLES Comments OffRead more...

Nigerian state and IFAD invests US$10.78mn in training farmer

Bimini1002015-01-22T14:11:45-05:00

Niger State government and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will invest US$10.78mn to train cassava and rice farmers in three Local Government areas of the state in Nigeria. According to IFAD, the training of the cassava and rice farmers would continue over the next six years. IFAD is the UN body that finances agriculture in poor countries. Mohammed Kuta Yahaya, commissioner for agriculture and rural development of Niger State, said, “While IFAD is expected to commit US$1.77mn to the [...]

February 4, 2015 ARTICLES Comments OffRead more...

Cameroon to boost palm oil production

Bimini1002015-01-22T14:07:23-05:00

Cameroon plans to use better quality of seeds in its palm oil sectorto help raise production of the oil by 26 per cent over the next three years. Essimi Menye, agriculture minister of Cameroon, said that the new seeds will be planted over an additional 30,000 ha of land and are expected to boost production to 290,000 metric tonnes a year, compared with 230,000 tonnes produced currently. “About 10,000 additional ha of plantations will be planted each year. The seeds will [...]

February 2, 2015 ARTICLES Comments OffRead more...

New policy to boost Nigeria’s cotton production

Bimini1002015-01-22T14:04:35-05:00

Nigeria has unveiled National Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) policy and plans to increase the country's raw cotton production from 200,000 tonnes in 2003 to 500,000 tonnes by the end of 2015 Olusegun Aganga, minister of industry and trade of Nigeria, said that the new policy will boost the development and growth of the country’s cotton industry and is expected to set a target of achieving US$3bn annually from cotton exports. According to Aganga, the CTG policy will improve the [...]

January 29, 2015 ARTICLES Comments OffRead more...

Zimbabwean farmers receive US$38mn funding for farming equipment

Bimini1002015-01-20T16:56:25-05:00

Zimbabwean farmers will receive agricultural equipment worth US$38mn from Brazil under the ‘More Food Africa’ programme to be used during the 2014-15 summer cropping season Zimbabwe-farmer-Africa RenewalThe 'More Food Africa’ programme will see farmers in Zimbabwe receive a grant of US$38mn for farming machinery. (Image source: Africa Renewal) Speaking at the 2nd National Dialogue on Agro-Business, Food and Nutrition Security set-up by the National Economic Consultative Forum and the Zimbabwe Agricultural Society, acting president, Cde Joice Mujuru stated that the first [...]

January 27, 2015 ARTICLES Comments OffRead more...

From agribusiness to subsistence: high-tech tools now available to all

Bimini1002015-01-20T16:55:37-05:00

Precision agriculture is closely associated with technology and its application to large-scale farms in developed countries. GPS-equipped sensors on tractors, for example, enable farmers to measure and respond to soil variability across vast tracts of land, and dispense the right amounts of fertiliser and water exactly where it's needed. For many years, this was widely seen as irrelevant to small-scale farmers in developing countries. How much variability can there be on a two hectare plot? And how could poor farmers [...]

January 23, 2015 ARTICLES Comments OffRead more...

New cellphone, tablet mounting brackets for the cab from John Deere

Bimini1002015-01-22T13:50:41-05:00

The proliferation of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices has made them popular and essential communications tools for today’s farmers and ranchers. As a result, John Deere is introducing mounting brackets and attachments to make it easier to have hands-free access and improved viewing of their mobile devices while operating equipment. “These brackets and mounts are designed to allow operators to access a wide variety of different mobile devices while in the cab of the tractor, combine, sprayer or [...]

January 21, 2015 ARTICLES Comments OffRead more...

Nigerian state to support farmers with modern farm equipment

Bimini1002014-12-28T10:07:08-05:00

Nigeria’s Delta State has announced that it would support the farmers of the region with modern tractor equipment worth US$5.5mn in 2015 TractorDelta State is rich in root crops such as cassava, coco yams, yam and potatoes. Emmanuel Uduaghan, governor of Delta State, said that the farming equipment would further boost mechanised agriculture and improve the productivity of farmers. “The Delta State government would also invest US$2.8mn for the Agricultural Youth Development programme in 2015. The programme would encourage the youth [...]

January 5, 2015 ARTICLES Comments OffRead more...

Uganda Earns Big From Organic Agriculture

Bimini1002014-12-13T20:48:38-05:00

The Agribusiness Development & Management Centre in Uganda Uganda, the pearl of Africa, has taken important steps in transforming conventional agricultural production into an organic farming system, with significant benefits for its economy, society and the environment. Organic Agriculture (OA) is defined by the Codex Alimentarius Commission as a holistic production management system, which promotes and enhances agro-ecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It prohibits the use of synthetic inputs, such as drugs, fertilizers and pesticides. [...]

December 31, 2014 ARTICLES Comments OffRead more...