Eden Agribusiness Center

“Your uniqueness is the only source of profitability that cannot be competed away, and thus, is the only source of sustainable profits.” –John Ikerd Introduction The quote above by John Ikerd cannot more aptly portray the prospect value addition holds for agricultural growth. Briefly put, value-added agriculture entails changing a raw agricultural product into something new through packaging, processing, cooling, drying, extracting or any other type of process that differentiates the product from the original raw commodity. Examples of value added agricultural products include cassava flour, bagged salad mix, cassava bread, black soaps and sausages. Definition This definition of value-added agriculture is from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Business Development. Value-added products are defined as follows: A change in the physical state or form of the product (such as milling wheat into flour or making strawberries into jam). The production of a pro...

bee performing the important function of pollination How would a world without bees look like? You might think that bees are pests when you hear them buzzing around you on a hot day or you may care about them only because of their honey. Well, even if the honey should dry up, farmers still count on these social insects for their money. Actually, bees are a vital species. Now check this out: honeybees are the world's leading pollinators, and are responsible for $30 million of crops every year. According to the BBC, bees pollinate 70 of the nearly 100 species of crops that feed 90% of the world. If bees went extinct, we could lose all plants pollinated by bees, which would affect the animals that eat those plants, and the animals that eat those animals, and the ripple effect would be felt worldwide. Simply put. Without bees, we could lose foods like carrots, broccoli, strawberries, and almonds. So, there's so much more to a bee than just its honey!

Seeds Given to 1 Million Farmers Hit By Boko Haram in Northeast Nigeria - UN Seeds and fertiliser are being delivered to more than a million farmers in Boko Haram-hit northeast Nigeria ahead of the rainy season to combat growing hunger and dwindling aid in a region threatened with famine, the United Nations said on Wednesday. The Islamist militants' bloody insurgency has prevented farmers from planting or harvesting crops for years in the northeast, where more than 5 million people need food aid and about 1.5 million are on the brink of famine, aid agencies say Adesina Named 2017 World Food Prize Winner - the 'Nobel' of Agriculture Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank, has been named the winner of this year's  World Food Prize .  The prestigious U.S.$250,000 prize is given annually to a person who has worked to advance human development by "improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world". Over a 31...

Birds may get high off ants? To keep themselves clean, birds will engage in "anting," where ants crawl all over their bodies. The formic acid that ants secrete help keep parasite away. However, birds have been known to rub the ants on themselves just because it feels good, and they can get addicted to anting.   - ©curiosity

Military dolphins defend the world largest stockpile of nukes Add these animals to the "truth is stranger than fiction" list if you like: military dolphins. Yes,  dolphins! The largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the United States, and possibly even in the world, is defended by a group of militarized dolphins. Since 2010, the U.S. Navy has employed the animals to protect the Naval Base Kitsap, which is located on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington about 20 miles outside Seattle. Prior to 2010, unwanted swimmers around this base were identified by trained sea lions. dolphins on duty Though military dolphins are used for finding mines in other parts of the world, the Kitsap dolphins are on the lookout for intruders. Once a dolphin finds an unwanted swimmer, the dolphin swims back to its trainers, who might give it a transponder to mark the swimmer's location. Or, they may equip the dolphins with a shackle that will attach to the intruder and send a f...

Sore throat 3 natural remedies for sore throat Have you ever had a sore throat?  I mean the type that leaves your throat feeling like you swallowed a porcupine & it stuck right there in your throat, unable to either go in or let you vomit it. experiencing such a severe case of sore throat can be terrible. And did i forget to mention how painful it can be too? Usually caused by infection, suffering from sore throat can get very irritating as it burns your throat and you also face difficulty swallowing your food or even saliva. However, where some strong medicines like antibiotics & co may fail to solve the problem,  you can cure this condition by trying one of, or a combination of these natural remedies. Salt water gargle: Though old-fashioned, salt water gargle is quick and effective sore-throat relief. Besides being a mild antiseptic, salt helps to clear out the phlegm from your throat and reduce its swelling. Add half a teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm...

  The Corn Earworm                      Pic: Young larva of corn earworm Common name: Corn earworm (same as cotton bollworm) Scientific name: Helicoverpa zea Class: insecta Primary host crop(s): Corn, Cotton, Soyabean etc. Brief Description: The life cycle of this pest can be completed in about 30 days. Eggs: the eggs are deposited by a full winged mother moth, usually on leaf hairs and corn silk. The egg is pale green when first deposited & later turns yellowish and then gray with time. Larva: Upon hatching, the larva wander about the plant until they encounter a suitable feeding site, normally the reproductive structure of the plant. A typical example is how they affect the shoot of a corn.                      Pic: Mature larva of corn earworm Did you know? as the larvae mature they become very aggressive, killing and cannibalizing other larva...

What to do & What not to do when being pursued by a swarm of bees In 2014, a swarm of bees attacked and killed a landscaper in Arizona, USA. Experts believed the man was pursued by a hybrid of African and Western honey bees known as "killer bees." This type of bee is especially dangerous because they are more sensitive to humans and more defensive than other species. But the scariest thing about killer bees may be that they can form swarms of about 2,000 and follow a victim for a quarter mile or longer. So what do you do if you find yourself being pursued by a pack of angry bees? The good news is that most people can tolerate about 10 bee stings per pound of body weight. But if the swarm is large and angry enough, here's what to do: run. Seriously. A healthy adult should be able to outrun a swarm of bees. It's also recommended that you pull your shirt over your head to protect your face, and do not swat bees or flail your arms. And, contrary to what you may...

                      ©Dangote tomato processing Vital Nduwimana hated how many tomatoes he lost every season. For years, his tomatoes started rotting just three or four days after harvest. He felt frustrated. Mr. Nduwimana explains: “I was not able to sell all my tomatoes; I lost almost half of my production. Worse still, I would sell at a low price in the market. So in 2015, I thought that maybe I should find a tomato conservation technique.” Mr. Nduwimana grows tomatoes in eastern Burundi, on Kabuyenge hill, five kilometres from the Tanzanian border. In eastern Burundi, tomatoes are abundant during the harvest months of August and September. But growers find it difficult to keep tomatoes for later sale, which leads to a large number of tomatoes rotting. Mr. Nduwimana tried several techniques to solve his problem. He tried storing his tomatoes in water, in clay, underground, in cartons, and even in sand. He tried ev...