Federal Government Creates Agro Rangers Corps to Protect Farms.

The Federal Government creates Agro rangers corps to protect farms. The federal government has begun the training of 3,000 personnel under its Agro Rangers programme designed to protect farmers and their investments from attacks by criminals, especially kidnappers. The Agro Rangers unit, an initiative of the minister of agriculture and rural development, Audu Ogbe and his interior counterpart, Abdurahman Dambazau, is a unit under the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). The strategy is expected to forestall attacks on farms and boost farmers’ confidence to work on their farms without fear of attack, thereby guaranteeing the federal government’s avowed food security plans. Nigeria has witnessed an escalation of deadly clashes between farmers and herdsmen in parts of Benue, Taraba, Plateau, Niger, Nasarawa and Kaduna, among others, in the last three years. The attacks resulted in loss of lives and farm investments worth billions of naira, thus threatening the country’s drive towards food security. This is in addition to rising cases of cattle rustling and kidnapping. The establishment of the Agro Rangers unit followed the recommendations of a committee headed by the director, Joint Services, in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Noah Auta, which was inaugurated mid-2016, to deliberate on the operational modalities of the special unit and submit recommendations.continue

How to use turmeric to treat urinary tract infection(UTI).

Urinary tract infection can be caused by fungi, viruses or bacteria, with bacteria being the most common cause. Most UTIs are caused by the bacteria present in the bowel, such as E. coli while Some other bacteria like, Chlamydia and Mycoplasma can be sexually transmitted and cause infection in urethra or reproductive organs. Women are more prone to UTI than men because of anatomical structure of reproductive organ, as microbes can reach easily into the urinary tract of women. The common symptoms of UTI are frequent urge to urinate, burning sensation in the bladder or urethra during urination, small amount of urine, abdominal pain, fever, foul smell and dark colour of the urine. UTI is not very serious but if the infection reaches kidneys it could be detrimental leading to kidney damage, high blood pressure etc and sometimes may even be life-threatening.The risk of UTI increases in case of any abnormality related with urinary tract such as kidney stones , diabetes and the use of certain birth control also elevates the risk. The use of catheters or tubes inserted into bladder for urine removal also predispose to microbial growth and also lead to infection. The treatment of UTI is done through antibiotics and antimicrobials. The duration of treatment depends on the severity of infection.This is accompanied by drinking plenty of water, changing urination habits and proper hygiene to avoid re-infection. Turmeric is a natural alternative to antibiotics for UTI treatment.Turmeric is known for a number of medicinal properties such as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immune-stimulatory and It has significant anti-viral and anti-fungal activity. Consumption of turmeric can prevent the growth of the pathogens in the urinary tract. The antimicrobial activity of turmeric is capable of restricting the growth of a wide range of microorganisms including bacteria, virus and fungi. Urinary tract infection often causes inflammation in kidney or bladder which further leads to pain. Cystitis which is inflammation of bladder is one of the common pro inflammatory responses in this infection. Turmeric is a potent anti-inflammatory agent, and it suppresses the pro-inflammatory responses by interfering with many metabolic pathways related to these responses. Recurrence of UTI is common in patients as high as 25% among the infected individuals. The cause of the relapse may be predominance of virulence factor genes, biofilm formation, antimicrobial resistance, multi-drug resistant strains etc. Turmeric is also capable of preventing recurrence of the UTIs. In a recent study, curcumin was found to be effective in preventing the relapse of UTI in postmenopausal women, when used with other therapies. It also reduced the symptoms of the infection.

7 things that make mosquitoes bite you more.

7 things that make mosquitoes bite you more. Mosquitoes choose their prey based on a bunch of factors, but the good news is some things that might make you attractive to them can actually be changed. Scientific research has found evidence supporting several factors that encourage mosquitoes to seek their prey out.These studies often involve different kinds of mosquitoes, however, so the things that attract them to you may vary depending on which species are nearby. Mosquitoes are known to transmit deadly diseases like Zika, malaria, yellow fever, dengue, Chikungunya, and West Nile virus. So even though the things that attract the bugs aren't fully understood, it's wise to try to reduce your allure as much as you can. The info graphics below gives a pointer to what makes mosquitoes choose their prey; 7 things that make mosquitoes bite you more:source.

Developmental Association for Renewable Energy in Nigeria (DARE) launches solar dryer to cut post harvest losses.

Developmental Association for Renewable Energy in Nigeria (DARE) launches solar dryer to cut post harvest losses. Developmental Association for Renewable Energy in Nigeria (DARE), has inaugurated a solar powered dryer panel to overcome post-harvest losses. The panel was inaugurated at Sabongarin Ba’awa in Makarfi Local Government, Kaduna State. Yahaya Ahmed , the Director of the group, said the move was to support local farmers with new scientific techniques and technology to reduce farm produce losses continue

AFDB approves $280m to support Nigerian youths in agriculture.

AFDB approves $280m to support Nigerian youths in agriculture.The President of the African Development Bank (AFDB), Akinwumi Adesina, says the $280 million approved by the bank would be used to encourage Nigerian youths to go into agro-business. Adesina, represented by Chiji Ojukwu, a Director in AFDB, stated this on Tuesday in Ibadan at the African Youth Agripreneurs (AYA) Forum organised by continue

How a startup went from building servers out of wood to a $20 million business .

How a startup went from building servers out of wood to a $20 million business. Over the last 10 years, Silicon Valley startup Backblaze has quietly established itself as a useful and popular service, letting you back up your entire PC or Mac to the cloud for $5 per computer per month. Backblaze CEO Gleb Budman revealed to Business Insider that the company just closed a $5 million sales quarter, putting it on track for a $20 million annualized run rate (ARR), the amount of money that Backblaze projects it will bring in this year if its current rate of business continues. It's a far cry from the company's modest start, where its self-funded beginnings meant that they built their first storage servers out of wood (seriously). Now, with about 50 employees, including all five founders, Backblaze has gone from nothing to sustainable business, in an industry where profitability is not taken for granted. How a startup went from building servers out of wood to a $20 million business,more

These brothers just sold their company to Oracle for $850 million.

These brothers just sold their company to Oracle for $850 million.Oracle's purchase of Moat gives it access to a pair of well-connected brothers, Jonah and Noah Goodhart, who are involved with dozens of other startups. New York is still abuzz that an ad-tech company called Moat sold itself to Oracle. Terms of the deal were undisclosed but an unnamed source told Recode's Peter Kafka that Oracle would pay upwards of $850 million for Moat. Moat is widely considered one of the hottest ad-tech startups, and based on the reported $850 million price tag, Oracle is paying handsomely. The company raised $68 million since it was founded in 2010 and was valued at $434 million continue