JUNE 2017 SEEDWORLD.COM / 73 over five years (2013-2018) by FPT governments in program- ming to support innovation, competitiveness and market development. The GF2 FPT Business Risk Management suite of pro- grams are demand-driven, and to date, have provided $5.7 billion in support to help producers address risks that are beyond their capacity to manage and that threaten the viability of their farms. FPT Ministers issued the Calgary Statement, which outlines the key priorities for the next policy framework, in July 2016. Canada’s agriculture and food industry is a key driver of the Canadian economy and a high-performing sector in today’s global marketplace, contributing more than $100 billion annually to the GDP and employing one out of every eight Canadians. — Source: News Media Services STATUS NIGERIA The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), through its executive direc- tor/chief executive officer, Olusegun Awolowo, recently revealed that in spite of poor infrastructure, lack of finance and poor power supply among many challenges, Nigeria still ranks as a global leader in the export of seven agricultural products. Awolowo while speaking on provision of a seamless logis- tics service as a panacea for economic growth at a busi- ness seminar said high export products include yam, melon, kola nut, cassava, sorghum and shea nut among many others, adding that it’s important to streamline the procedures and documentation of exports. According to him, there are 22 steps to exporting goods, and this lengthy and cumbersome procedure adds to the cost of doing business. If the issue of procedures and documenta- tions remains cumbersome, he said opportunities available in non-oil exports will remain a mirage. He shared that the dominance of oil revenue is changing around the world and atten- tions are being shifted to non- oil export, encouraging private investors to build export warehouses to serve as a one-stop shop for non-oil exports. Another non-oil export opportunity available in Nigeria and the southwest region is the export of cashew seeds. Indeed, it has been said that Nigeria became the larg- est producer of cashew in the year 2008 and maintained this lead until 2010. Data available puts Nigeria as the sixth largest producer of cashew fruits with a yearly production of about 120,000 tonnes. It is said that the industry is responsible for the provision of more than 600,000 jobs and a trade worth of 24 billion naira, con- sequently becoming a major contributor to the economy especially the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Annually, a cashew tree produces between 200 to 300 cashew nuts, and Vietnam, Nigeria, India and Brazil are said to collectively account for more than 90 percent of all cashew kernel exports. — Source: Nigerian Tribune. STATUS UNITED KINGDOM Growers in the United Kingdom (UK) are urged to follow new biosecurity meas- ures to help eradicate one of the most economically dev- astating tomato diseases, the pepino mosaic virus (PepMV). It’s one of the most economi- cally important diseases of tomatoes, and fruit infected with multiple strains of the virus experience more severe symptoms. The disease affects both fruit quality and yields, and there are known to be three strands present on UK crops. Symptoms on fruit can include marbling and flaming marks, as well as split or malformed fruit. Severe infections on crops can have significant economic impact, with one nursery esti- mating that the disease caused around 400,000 euros of crop loss on six hectares of the vari- ety Piccolo. As a result, grow- ers are urged to take steps to ensure, even where infection has already been confirmed, no additional strains of PepMV are brought into the site. An intensive clean-up process, thorough composting of crop debris and a review of source waters will significantly reduce the chances of the virus being viable, according to AHDB Horticulture. In addition, the risk of PepMV transmission from small root pieces that remain in the soil after the crop has been removed appears to be very small — a finding of particular relevance to organic growers. The new recommendations are a result of an AHDB Horticulture-funded research project, which aimed to increase understanding of PepMV symptom severity and persistence on nurseries. Brian Moralee of APS Group and an industry representa- tive on the project, says: “PepMV persists on our pro- duction site, and we are find- ing economic losses from it. We are involved with this pro- ject as we wanted to under- stand more about the virus and why our annual clean-up was not eradicating it. “The research has been really important to help under- stand the spread of the virus, particularly in the compost- ing processes and in the soil on organic crops.” — Source: Farming UK. SW