byrron:
Nigerians arrived at that level through collective stupidity.

coolscott:
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/202953-agriculture-minister-ogbeh-insists-imported-cultivated-grass-will-end-herdsmen-violence.html

psucc:
It's shameful . A country with well over 20m graduates will vote for a President without Secondary school certificate.

byrron:
Nigerians arrived at that level through collective stupidity.

byrron:
Nigerians arrived at that level through collective stupidity.

Ioannes:
Herdsmen move from location to location to get quality grass for their cattle.

A superior specie of grass can be imported and cultivated in the northern states and the herdsmen persuaded or restricted by law to graze only where the government has designated for grazing, which is where they'll find quality grass anyway.

I don't support herdsmen killing and I believe that those who have been involved in killings should be apprehended and jailed for life.

But yes, quality grass will reduce the nomadic nature of the Fulani herdsmen if they know they can get grass for their cattle at a particular location. My opinion.

coolscott:

We made silage for our cattle in the.federal univ of agriculture, umudike (Now renamed the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike).

Forage diversity is higher in Nigeria than most countries in the world, and it seems the stupidity in the suggestion that the grasses and legumes that grow in Nigeria are not nutritious enough for the animals is not apparent to some.

It still seems one of the most ridiculous things to be put forward in our polity.

If there is a rationale for this, I have not yet seen it and I think it has not yet come to the fore.

psucc:
It's shameful . A country with well over 20m graduates will vote for a President without Secondary school certificate.

OfficialAwol:


By deliberately lying to ourselves about obvious fact.

By believing that a man with Nepa bill was better than a PhD holder.

And by having some group of redundants who would defend every poo they pass, as being right.

Imported grass? With all the mangroove in the south? Or you wanna plant it in the north will the climate over there support its sustenance?

Please when are they registering the Mega party? Tell them to present even Ibori, he will win with landslide victory.

Rubbish

Ioannes:


I won't argue forage diversity in Nigeria with you because that's not the point of discussion here.

You may have lots of different species of grass yet not have quality grass.

If the FG feels that importing a particular genetically modified grass will increase the yield of cattle and milk, then it won't be a bad idea.

Oh and need I remind you that's there a number of reasons why grass may be modified among which is the fact that it may actually outlive ordinary grass in the time of drought.

Continued importation of such will not make any sense though, but I'm sure the importation is for cultivation here in Nigeria.

Ioannes:


I won't argue forage diversity in Nigeria with you because that's not the point of discussion here.

You may have lots of different species of grass yet not have quality grass.

If the FG feels that importing a particular genetically modified grass will increase the yield of cattle and milk, then it won't be a bad idea.

Oh and need I remind you that's there a number of reasons why grass may be modified among which is the fact that it may actually outlive ordinary grass in the time of drought.

Continued importation of such will not make any sense though, but I'm sure the importation is for cultivation here in Nigeria.

ivandragon:



sorry to jump in, but I don't think the issue is with the importation of 'foreign grass' per se, its that the FG shouldn't be the one importing the grass.

let those who are in the business of cattle rearing do the importing, not the FG.

if the FG truly feels it most intervene in some way, then it should set up special research grants in the Universities of Agriculture to look at developing a specie/species of grass suitable for cattle.

the way out of this is still ranching... if you want to be in the cattle business, get into ranching. they can import all the foreign grass they want.

coolscott:


What I am saying is that the suggestion that are grass and forages are not nutritious enough is so nonsensical that the only wonder is why this is not 1960, with some one-eyed educated politician fraudulent spilling gabbage to the largely blind populace.

Please, let me help you understand the grossness of the stupid idea and why it feels just too difficult for one too bear.

Firstly, the approximate nutrient content of every herb, grass or forage identified as being able to serve as food for farm animals is known and properly documented. The process for determining nutrient content is called PROXIMATE ANALYSIS.

Do you know the nutrient composition of our legumes and grasses as compared to those found elsewhere? Do you know what makes them high in nutrients and what may make then not so rich in nutrients?

If we assume some factors are affecting our grasses so they are not as nutritious as they should be, so the solution is to import the grass right?

Our rice production has not been up to par with that of many other countries worldwide and what did the fed govt do? It banned the importation of rice. It banned it because everybody knows that with improved cultural practices the rice (which we consume) will yield more.

Now our healthy grasses are doing very well and someone comes up with the lie that they are not doing well and because they are not doing well, we should allocate millions upon million to import...?

Now let me let you know that legumes are always rich in nutrients. It is in their nature to.

As for grasses, when they are young, they are very nutritious. When they grow older, they lose their nutritive value but the fiber content does increase and fiber is also good for the animals.

Grasses that grow among legumes can benefit from the legumes as the legumes provide a nice supply of nitrogen to the soil, which is good for other plants growing in the same soil.

Genetically modified plants are looked down upon in the developed world. In fact, just about all of Europe has banned THE IMPORTATION of all genetically modified agric produce, and for good reason too. Beef from cattle that got feed genetically modified plants will not be spared the contamination and categorisation as GM product because genetically modified material was involved in making it.

I know the govt and minister did not mention anything about GM grass and that is just your inclusion but it is good to make it clear that any kind of rigmarolling only brings us to the conclusion that the whole idea came from a profoundly stupid place that the rest of us still cannot identify or explain.

There are only 2 options here: Either stupidity or fraud.

Eastactivist:


The foolish People did it by thinking idiotically that they have the power to control others(non graduates) because of a fking degree they got from tertiary institution.

Now they've know that power when held by someone the resultant effect doesn't discriminate.

Power lords over education if you like get PhD... That's what they dunno and that's the aftereffects Nigerians are suffering.

Ioannes:


Please don't apologize, it's a free-for-all.

Your idea sounds good. But remember we're talking of illiterate nomads whose family for hundreds of generation have always driven cattle from one place to another.

In fact, it has become tradition.

Maybe another solution is for the government to partner with private organizations like IITA to produce such grass. We know our universities are deficient when it comes to research otherwise Nigeria won't remain as it is today.

ivandragon:


this raises another issue...

how come our 'herdsmen' are still illiterate in this century? or are they just pretending?

people who listen to radios often, digest the information, know much about geography, know how to use various weapons etc, cannot be termed illiterate... or at least, not in the absolute sense of it.

our universities are what they are because of situations like this, rather than challenge them, we take short cuts by looking for 'imported' solutions.

Ioannes:


I won't argue forage diversity in Nigeria with you because that's not the point of discussion here.

You may have lots of different species of grass yet not have quality grass.

If the FG feels that importing a particular genetically modified grass will increase the yield of cattle and milk, then it won't be a bad idea.

Oh and need I remind you that's there a number of reasons why grass may be modified among which is the fact that it may actually outlive ordinary grass in the time of drought.

Continued importation of such will not make any sense though, but I'm sure the importation is for cultivation here in Nigeria.

Ioannes:
Herdsmen move from location to location to get quality grass for their cattle.

A superior specie of grass can be imported and cultivated in the northern states and the herdsmen persuaded or restricted by law to graze only where the government has designated for grazing, which is where they'll find quality grass anyway.

I don't support herdsmen killing and I believe that those who have been involved in killings should be apprehended and jailed for life.

But yes, quality grass will reduce the nomadic nature of the Fulani herdsmen if they know they can get grass for their cattle at a particular location. My opinion.

greenermodels:
you need a ranch to successfully plant and manage any pasture, unfortunately buhari have rejected ranches and preferred grazing reserves. the current crises in southern kaduna was caused by the designation of villages as grazing reserves. Fulani herdsmen should buy land and settle in ranches maybe with state government assistance. here in anambra,we have ranches and you're free to plant any grass of your choice, be it foreign, exotic, genetically engineered or whatever.

SpecialAdviser:
Do you really think that if Igbos are are Nomadics, they will wait for the government to import grass for them? Problem is we have few people in Nigeria with Igbo's business spirit.