The Health Department, in collaboration with the Research Unit of Dolapo-Frank Farmers Organization developed an application that generates the Body Mass Index (BMI) of individuals. This is to ensure that our practising and intending Farmers, prosper and be in health even as the soul prosper.
The BMI, as reported in previous research indicates how body weight, could trigger the development of disease and chronic health conditions in individuals.
To access application,
CLICK

https://farmingbrief.org/bmi-calculator/

Courtesy of Dolapo-Frank Farmers Organization (NGO).

[b]The expectation of the onset of rains, marks the commencement of the 2024 crop production seasons.
An important input is Fertilizer/Manure to ensure soil fertility sustainability for optimum and very high crop yield.
Appropriate and optimum fertilizer rate and application, to ensure sustainable soil fertility status for optimum crop yield, is a focus of the NGO. This is achieved through invention of automated Fertilizer/Manure digital computing in the research unit of Dolapo Frank Farmers Organization. This prevents excess fertilizer usage, reduction in surface and underground water pollution from excessive fertilizer use and by this, make the use of fertilizer in crop production cost effective. For application, Click .

https://farmingbrief.org/fertilizer-manure-determination/

*The software invention, for free online use, is courtesy of Dolapo-Frank Farmers Organization (NGO).*

YAM REVOLUTION: Massive yam production with high involvement of secondary schools in Ondo State was embarked upon in 2023 with selected secondary schools in Akure South Local Government, in a pilot scheme. The initiative was to mark a significant move to avert hunger. The ideology was initiated and executed by Dolapo-Frank Farmers Organization (NGO) with the mission to attain food security.
The Programme Objectives were:
(i) To significantly improve yam production.
(ii) To impart knowledge and practice of sack filled soil in crop production without the search for extensive farmland that may not be readily available because of family hold on land.
(iii) To engage in farming at a nearby available space and avoid the likelihood of exposure to bandits who sporadically attack farmers at distant farmland.
(iv) To impart the knowledge of sack filled soil farming to students who may become trainers to farmer parents.
(v) To make farming appear scientific and thereby arouse interest of students in farming, specifically crop production.
(vi) To improve the internally generated revenue (IGR) of schools from the sales of their yam tubers.
The success story of the project was as reported through the link:
https://farmingbrief.org/yam-revolution-massive-yam-production-in-secondary-schools/

There had always been yearly glut at harvest, of farm produce which after a while would become scarce as a result of consumption and heavy spoilage due to poor storage. The scope of storage planning would differ from a small scale farmer producing for own consumption and possible sale of the excess above family requirements to a commercial producer who would plan to store hundreds and in some cases thousands of tons of a particular produce.

The divine promise in the Word, reads “And ye shall eat old store and bring forth the old because of the new” (Leviticus 26: 10) meaning that people would eat food from old storage and also prepare storage for the future.
Proper yam storage therefore becomes expedient to avert hunger.

Further reading on appropriate storage techniques can be accessed through the link:
https://farmingbrief.org/storage-of-farm-produce/

Courtesy: Dolapo-Frank Farmers Organization (NGO)

Biofuel is any fuel derived from biomass of plant or algae material or animal waste and is considered to be a source of renewable energy, unlike fossil fuels such as petroleum, coal, and natural gas. Examples of biofuels include:

Ethanol (often made from corn and sugarcane)
Biodiesel (vegetable oils and liquid animal fats),
Green diesel (derived from algae and other plant sources)
Biogas (methane derived from animal manure and other digested organic material).



The use of food crops meant for direct human consumption is not encouraged making accepted and supported biofuel manufacture to be from non-edible sources like agricultural waste with properties of the same quality as conventional petrol and diesel.



The proven prototype production technique of ethanol from sweet sorghum with accompanying diagram for visual knowledge is produced below:

Stripping and cleaning of fresh stalk
Pressing and extraction of juice from stalk
Filtering to remove debris
Fermentation for a minimum of three days with the addition of yeast
Distillation to produce pure ethanol

Sorghum or Guinea corn, as it’s known in many parts of the world, is one of the most valuable edible plants grown today in Nigeria.

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) is an important food crop in Africa, Central America, and South Asia and is the fifth most important cereal crop grown in the world after wheat, maize, rice and barley (FAO, 2004). It is among the world’s nutritious cereals and traditionally used in unfermented and fermented breads, snacks, porridges, malted alcohol and non-alcoholic beverages. Nigeria ranks second in 2017 world sorghum production with 6,550,000 MT (USDA, 2017).

Sorghum has been recommended for infants, the elderly, pregnant and lactating mothers because of its high caloric and nutritional value. This provides solution to cases of “hidden hunger”, a deficit of iron and zinc which naturally exist in sorghum.

In Nigeria, sorghum is the most widely cultivated staple cereal crop in the southern and northern guinea savanna, including Sahel covering 8.5 million hectares, extending southward to the derived savanna (forest-savanna transition zone). The climatic condition of the above-mentioned zones with high sorghum production percentage (high temperature, dry spell and low, long erratic rainfall) favours the production of the crop due to its genetically drought resistant properties and its ability to grow in hot dry agro-ecologies with relative advantage where other food crops such as rice and maize find it difficult to grow successfully.

There is a need to investigate the potential of sorghum production in the rainforest in other to provide information on adaptation as a result of the climatic change, desert encroachment, covering the Sahel, Sudan and Guinea savanna agro ecological zones.

Grain sorghum should preferably be planted by May 15 and early June. Grain yields decrease as planting is delayed after early June in drier region while planting is in July in the wetter areas. Most hybrids take about three to four months from planting to maturity depending on the varieties though Northern growers may consider the shorter-maturing varieties.

Synonyms

* (cereal) guinea corn (West Africa); Kafir corn (South Africa); mtama (East Africa); durra (Sudan); juar, jowar, cholam (India); kaoliang (China); milo (United States)

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An agricultural drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle applied to farming in order to help increase crop production and monitor crop growth. Farmers are able to use drones to help them gather a richer picture of their fields. It is employed in soil fertility investigation and mapping, detect stress in plant as a result of diseases and pests, locate water stream courses for horticultural projects. In other areas of Agriculture, it is used in tracking disease occurrence and prevalence in livestock, taking inventories of forest resources, assessing water courses for ideal location of fish ponds and observatories of aquaculture habitat, etc.

Drones are equipped with different state of the art technology such as infra-red cameras, GPS and laser. Drones are controlled by remote control system (ground cockpit); thus the two parts are, the drone itself and the control system.
Details can be found in my signature

An agricultural drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle applied to farming in order to help increase crop production and monitor crop growth. Farmers are able to use drones to help them gather a richer picture of their fields. It is employed in soil fertility investigation and mapping, detect stress in plant as a result of diseases and pests, locate water stream courses for horticultural projects. In other areas of Agriculture, it is used in tracking disease occurrence and prevalence in livestock, taking inventories of forest resources, assessing water courses for ideal location of fish ponds and observatories of aquaculture habitat, etc.

Drones are equipped with different state of the art technology such as infra-red cameras, GPS and laser. Drones are controlled by remote control system (ground cockpit); thus the two parts are, the drone itself and the control system.
Details can be found in my signature

Production techniques of seed yam is a way by which over seventy big yam tubers can be produced from a tuber within two years. The explanation of this is simply that over seventy seed yam can be obtained from one tuber in the first year while over seventy big tubers are obtainable when the seed yam tubers are planted in the second year. The techniques in both theory and practical are freely obtainable on the website.

Plantain (Musa paradisiaca) is a major source of carbohydrate for millions of people in Africa and some other parts of the world. Plantain and bananas are grown in more than 120 countries, in backyard or in mixed cropping systems by smallholder farmers. The production of plantain suckers is aimed at maintaining/sustaining a high level of plantain production. Botanically, there is no distinction between bananas and plantains except that the storage of carbohydrate in the fruit takes the form of starch in plantain while as sugar in banana. The two effective and highly efficient methods of plantain/banana sucker production are the split corm and the heat method. The methods in both theory and practical are obtainable on the website. Details are in my signature

Production techniques of seed yam is a way by which over seventy big yam tubers can be produced from a tuber within two years. The explanation of this is simply that over seventy seed yam can be obtained from one tuber in the first year while over seventy big tubers are obtainable when the seed yam tubers are planted in the second year. The techniques in both theory and practical are freely obtainable on the website.

Plantain (Musa paradisiaca) is a major source of carbohydrate for millions of people in Africa and some other parts of the world. Plantain and bananas are grown in more than 120 countries, in backyard or in mixed cropping systems by smallholder farmers. The production of plantain suckers is aimed at maintaining/sustaining a high level of plantain production. Botanically, there is no distinction between bananas and plantains except that the storage of carbohydrate in the fruit takes the form of starch in plantain while as sugar in banana. The two effective and highly efficient methods of plantain/banana sucker production are the split corm and the heat method. The methods in both theory and practical are obtainable on the website. Details are in my signature

Nigeria has been identified as one of world's largest producer of yams, accounting for over 70–76 percent of the world production. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization report, in 1985, Nigeria produced 18.3 million tonnes of yam from 1.5 million hectares, representing 73.8 percent of total yam production in Africa. Nigeria's total production of yam was estimated at 24 milion metric tons in 2005. However a factor that can militate against the sustained high production status is the unavailability of seed yam (yam planting materials) which can be prevented with the adoption of minisett technique. The details on the methodology of seed yam production by the minisett technique and the video clips that can produce the visual knowledge is in my signature

Nigeria has been identified as one of world's largest producer of yams, accounting for over 70–76 percent of the world production. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization report, in 1985, Nigeria produced 18.3 million tonnes of yam from 1.5 million hectares, representing 73.8 percent of total yam production in Africa. Nigeria's total production of yam was estimated at 24 milion metric tons in 2005. However a factor that can militate against the sustained high production status is the unavailability of seed yam (yam planting materials) which can be prevented with the adoption of minisett technique. The details on the methodology of seed yam production by the minisett technique and the video clips that can produce the visual knowledge is in my signature

Dolapo-Frank Farmers Organization, an NGO registered with Nigeria Corporate Affairs Commission, has released a free video clips to demonstrate methods of bee keeping for honey production. This is in response to the realisation that as at today, by Nigerian University Commission report, there are 40 Federal, 44 State owned and 68 private universities in Nigeria while Premium Times of April 2014, once reported that there were 5.3 million unemployed graduates from 2014 back several years. The free virtual training can be viewed via my signature

Honey has been described as a natural product while sugar is a man-made artificial one.
The process of manufacturing sugar, results in the removal of healthy nutritive components such as the proteins, vitamins and organic elements while in honey, all these are preserved.
With both honey and sugar, each contains glucose and fructose and while they are separate in their individual forms in honey, they are bonded together as sucrose in sugar.
Further reading is in my signature

Production of cocoa seedlings. To have fine cocoa trees which produce a lot of big pods, choose carefully the seeds.Choose the biggest pods from the trees…Details found in my signature

Vegetables are what people consume everyday which guarantees a good market, making it a highly feasible project. Vegetables provide a source of many nutrients including potassium, fibre, folate (folic acid) and vitamins A, E, and C. Eating a diet rich in vegetables may reduce risk of stroke, cancer, heart diseases and type-2 diabetes. Common leafy vegetables are Amaranthus (Celosia argentea), Corchorus spp., Solanum spp. etc.

Generally with leafy vegetables, seeds can be planted in the field by broadcast or raised in nursery and later transplanted. Soils to be used should be fertile with high organic matter content, otherwise organic compost would need to be incorporated through mixing at 2 to 3 t/ha. NPK 15:15:15 can be added at 200 kg/ha.

Land preparation for either the direct planting or nursery raised seedlings can be mechanical with the use of tractors or manual using.....................
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Rabbit farming is the commercial rearing of a single or different rabbit breeds primarily for sale, to be used as food and several other purposes.

Rabbit farming is an agribusiness with a huge market, especially due to statistics showing that over 1 million tonnes of rabbit meat is consumed yearly around the world
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The loan of 3.8 billion naira obtained by the Federal Government of Nigeria from AFDB (Vanguard Newspaper of 27/07/2017) for the production of potato has prompted the information on potato production.
Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a tuber crop which when planted in March to April when there is rain, is harvested in July to August and when planted in August to September is harvested in November to December.
It is used for human consumption and industrial purposes. For the industrial use, the by-products such as potato starch, glucose and dextrin are used in biscuit production. The by-products are also used in the manufacture of glues, textiles and paints.
For the cultivation method
Hints on the cultivation of Potato
Planting usually done in flat beds about 1 m wide and crop may be interplanted with other crops.
It can be planted in March to April when there is rain and harvested in July to August.
It can also be planted in July to August and harvested in November to December.
Planting materials: Small whole tubers
Spacing: 25 x 70 cm to give plant population of 57,000/ha
35 x 70 cm to give plant population of 41,000/ha

For more information,
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A focus of Dolapo-Frank Farmers Organization, a Non-Governmental Organization registered with Nigerian Corporate Affairs Commission, is the empowerment of graduates of higher institutions on self-reliance. There are as at today, by Nigerian University Commission report, 40 Federal, 44 State owned and 68 private universities in Nigeria. Premium Times of April 2014, reported 5.3 million unemployed graduates from 2014 back several years.
Feasible investments span agriculture, agro-allied, confectionery, cottage industries, etc.
To view list of over 60 businesses that can be ventured into, Click
www.thesmallholderfarmers.org

The use of organic compost in preference to the synthetic fertilizers in crop production has been widely acknowleged; this has ensured the consumption of organic and natural food. Organic compost can be prepared by composting organic materials using basket method of composting.
Detailed production technique is at http://thesmallholderfarmers.org

Briefs on Dolapo-Frank Farmers Organization

Dolapo-Frank Farmers Organization is a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) registered with the Nigerian Corporate Affairs Commission with the main objective of empowering smallholder farmers. This is accomplished through free virtual on-line training on a global scale and also training of farmers in the various local government areas at the local level with multi-media facilities. Weekly blogs and periodic lectures are provided on agricultural activities that span crop, livestock, aquaculture production. Farmers are taught on intensive agricultural production on the available small farmland. Farmlands in the developing nations are mostly fragmented which will therefore require intensive use.
for more information about our organization, kindly visit us at
http://thesmallholderfarmers.org/