It is a time to pause, time to
allow feedbacks and contributions from exalted readers of this Column. The most
outstanding contribution came from Dr. Inuwa Usman, the Factory Manager of IAR-NSDC
Sugarcane Biofactory who corrected an error in respect of sugar production
potential in Nigeria. The article reported
a joint effort of ABU Zaria, IAR and NSDC to decuple national sugar
production which was published on 13th May, 2016. A statement in the first part
of the article written as "Nigeria has a land potential of 500,000 hectares of suitable
cane fields that can produce over five million tons of sugar....." was a gross underestimation of Nigerian
potential for sugarcane production according to this Associate Professor of plant
breeding in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He bought out salient issues of the
ongoing research in sugarcane production in Nigeria. Another reaction is from
Mr. Mohammed Peter who posted on my facebook
page. He compared Nigerian solar powered car with water powered car developed
by Israel Company 'Phinergy'. No basis for
comparison but Nigerian strides to technological innovation has no limit, petit-a-petit, we shall reach there, my
compatriots.
Once again, you can access
previous articles of this column via;
www.breakthroughwithmkothman.blogspot.com.
Happy reading
Dear Dr. Othman
Rejoinder on Ahmadu Bello University:
Another Giant Stride to Decuple National Sugar Production for Self Sufficiency
and Exportation
I read with keen interest your article entitled : Ahmadu Bello University:
Another Giant Stride to Decuple National Sugar Production for Self Sufficiency
and Exportation and wish to draw your attention to some mix up on some of
the statistics that you presented towards the end of the article as thus: "Nigeria has all the
potentials to produce sugar for home consumption and exportation, According to
the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Nigeria has a land potential of
over 500,000 hectares of suitable sugarcane fields that can produce over 5
million metric tons of sugarcane that when processed, can yield about 3 million
metric tons of sugar, which will be twice the national sugar demands". Production
of 5 million metric tons of sugarcane from 500,000 ha places the yield of
sugarcane to an average of 10 tons per hectare which is decimally low as our estimated
national average yield is 65 tons per hectare. This figure, the national
average yield of 65 tons/ha is generally considered low relative to what obtains
in other countries. Even with the
present low yield, our production would be 32.5 million metric tons from
500,000 ha of cane fields and assuming a 15% sugar content will convert to 4.5
million metric tonnes of sugar per annum. The implication of this figures is that
going by present level of productivity, we can produce enough sugar to meet our
domestic needs and even export the excess.
Research efforts are actively ongoing to make Nigeria
globally competitive in sugar production through the development of superior performing
sugar cane varieties. Sugarcane Yields
of 110 to 140 tons per hectare have been recorded on experimental plots across the
nation. I strongly believe that sugarcane holds some promise in becoming the
most reliable commercial crop in Nigeria. In fact, sugarcane with its 20
value-added-chains can match Petroleum Dollar–for-Dollar. Some of the notable sugarcane
value chains are production of bio-ethanol, electricity generation, production
of livestock feeds, fertilizer production, and production of bio-plastics. No
doubt, these sugarcane by-products can positively impact on the livelihoods of
Nigerian, most especially the rural dwellers.
In conclusion, let me iterate the
activities of NSDC Bio-factory here in ABU Zaria on the micro propagation of
many important crops in Nigeria. We backstop the rapid production of uniform,
disease free, and productive planting materials of sugarcane and other crops
such as pineapple, banana, date palm, root and tuber crops, and ornamentals.
Pineapple is one crop with huge potentials for domestic production and exports.
It is estimated that world production of pineapple in 2012 was 23 million
metric tons. Nigeria is ranked seventh in the world with a production of 1.4
million MT in 2012 accounting for about 7% of the world production (FAOSTAT,
2013).The fruits are important source of vitamin A, B and C besides several
minerals. It also contains a protein digesting enzyme bromelain. The fruits are
consumed fresh or processed into canned fruit, juice and jam. Calcium nitrate,
citric acid and vinegar are other products obtain from the juice. Finally, we thank LEADERSHIP FRIDAY for this informative
and educative column.
Dr Inuwa S
Usman,
Department of Plant Science,
Dear
M. K. Othman
I
have read your article titled " Ahmadu
Bello University: Another Giant Stride to Decuple National Sugar Production for
Self Sufficiency and Exportation" with keen interest and
noted three major issues/bottle necks concerning sugarcane production. These
are the following:
1.
Nigeria is losing huge some of foreign exchange earnings to provide sugar for
the populace, which can easily be produced locally in Nigeria,
2.
Local sugar production is as low as two percent of the country's sugar demands,
3.
It is very difficult to have healthy planting materials for the propagation of
sugarcane locally and thus impede against sugarcane production,
The
intervention by the combined effort of NSDC, IAR and ABU is certainly a noble
one and welcomed development since it is addressing these three major issues
highlighted above. This means that the combined effort is producing healthy
planting materials, true to type and in large quantity. My passionate appeal is
to the three key partners NSDC, IAR and ABU to sustain this effort in the
interest of this nation. Similarly, I am calling on the Federal government and
state governments focus their search light for the economy diversification on
this noble innovation - Biofactory and accord it the necessary support to
achieve the desired goals. There is no better time than now for the
diversification of the Nigerian economy due to current low price of crude oil
and its unreliability as a major source of foreign exhange.
Dr.
Ahmed A. Ibrahim,
Dept
of Agronomy, A. B. U. Zaria
Use
of Solar Energy in Nigeria: Efforts, Innovations and Missing Links
Dear
Dr. M. K. Othman,
I
have gone through the piece with the above caption and learnt vital information
on the contributions made by Nigerians to address or find solution to the
country's perennial energy crisis. I feel compelled to share a story on car
that runs on air and water manufactured by an Israel Firm. The purpose is to
inspire the hardworking Nigerians to take up the challenge towards achieving
such feats.
The
story is about an Israel company called Phinergy. It is a leading developer of
breakthrough, absolutely zero emission, high energy density systems based on
metal air energy technologies, mainly Aluminum-Air and Zinc-Air. Unlike
conventional batteries that carry oxygen, these batteries freely breathe oxygen
from the ambient air to release the energy contained in metals.
An
Israeli company called Phinergy has created a technology that uses metal, air
and water to power a vehicle. This metal-air technology has been at the
forefront of research for years because of its enormous potential for
revolutionizing the world’s use of energy. Since 2008, Phinergy, benefiting
from more than a decade of academic research at Bar-llan University near Tel
Aviv, has been successfully developing this technology by utilizing the energy
stored in metal. Phinergy’s battery creates energy by combining aluminum and
ambient air with water. The difference between this process and other electric
powered vehicle is comparable to the difference between a human scuba diver who
must carry his oxygen in a balloon on his back, and a fish, which simply
utilizes the oxygen contained in water by breathing through its gills.
Because
of the unique technology, the battery is immune to CO2-related problems, which,
according to phinergy, has been the leading cause of metal-air battery failure
in the past. While for the everyday consumer, transportation may be the most
compelling aspect of this technology, there are many other relevant
applications in the areas of energy storage, defense and consumer electronics. For
the vehicle consumer, one of the most attractive aspects of this technology is
that instead of having to refuel with gasoline every several hundred miles, or
having to recharge or exchange a battery, the only necessary ingredient for
refueling is water-a resource that is widely available, giving these cars a
range that is virtually unlimited and making them very cost-efficient.
Mohammed
Peter,
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