Agronomics: Crowdfunding

Agronomics: Crowdfunding. Thinking of starting an agribusiness? think outside the bank, crowdfunding is the new seed capital,consider the resources on your computer before running to a local lender or cutting into your savings or resorting to bank loans. Crowdfunding sites grant access to a world of potential investors willing to fork over capital in hopes of future rewards, such as bottles of honey, discounted CSA shares, or behind-the-scenes farm tours. While launching a campaign is free, most sites take 4 to 9 percent of the total amount raised and charge credit card processing fees. Find the right platform. Kickstarter.com provides the most reach with 900,000 daily unique visitors —and the highest likelihood that your page will get lost in the crowd. The ag-specific barnraiser.us has a relatively meager 900 daily visitors, but all are interested in supporting growers, artisan food producers, and the like. In fact, campaigns on the site reach their goals at twice the rate of those on other platforms. Nurture your network. No matter which site you choose, it’s unwise to assume that strangers will stumble across your page. The vast majority of online backers know the person they’re supporting. In 2015, Colin McCrate, founder of the Seattle Urban Farm Company, secured $30,000 on Barnraiser to construct four new greenhouses. “Most of the people who donated were already in our community,” he says, “so I wish I’d spent more time on the front end, building that up. We might have been able to raise even more.” Focus on your customer base, growing e-mail lists and your social media presence. continue

AFAN Wants Tractors, Other Implements For Hire.

AFAN Wants Tractors, Other Implements For Hire. The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Edo chapter, has called on the state government to provide tractors, bulldozers, graders and other farm implements for farmers in the state to hire. The state Chairman of AFAN, Chief Emmanuel Odigie, made the call in an interview with newsmen in Benin. Odigie said the association was willing to pay an agreed amount to the state government on a monthly basis for the use of the equipment if provided. He said “the idea is to enable our members to hire them at affordable rates to prepare farmlands and construct roads leading to the farms.“Our investigation revealed that farm produce waste away in the farms due to inaccessible and deplorable state of our farm roads. “If the roads were graded, farmers would evacuate their produce and avoid the waste,” he said. continue

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