BUSINES
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Wednesda'f 22 August 201 2_ ________________. .DD __ .... . u__ .u..~
Rice farmers increase outpu1t using innovation techn logiY OLUYINKA ALAWODE rom about oncheaar~ or land a few years aso. rice Carmers in Ise
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village, ugos Stale, Nigeria. ha\'I! incrused the number .of hectares they eam culth',ut
tJ~ing
5imple bu t
LrulO\.';lmoe technology. l!it village has thousands
or h~ares of rich 10\\1 and soil
ideal
(01
rice cultlvalion on
TcblZ b.land, which is O'o'tt fOOl kiIomeues across the Yo'aler &om 1M malnIand. Unlil a few years
ago.tneWmlmandlhdr\mder5 had IOgc'llOtheisWld bypadd1ing canoes. otimrimc5,. theoceangeu '=Y $fonny and the !l3ddJes are unablelo keep me boat balanced. Acrording to the \illagers. ~ li\'es had been los! eM:!" the ~ as a n:wIL So. the farmeD were unable to &et enough warUn; 10 agree IOcorneroW Wand IO\Wdt due to the featoflosing their lives. Bm ....ith the introduction of ootilOomi engines. eo.-en in Sformy \\'nLl\U; Ihe boats are 5ti1l able to maintain abaJanc:t and suyailoaL Abo. the u;r.'f! lime Iw reducm Prior 10 lIle inuodua ion of
the outboard engines for the tfal'elth,ough the waler, the ioumq' v.i lh paddling canoes would take about twO houn or more, and another IWO hours on the return Journey. But now, It rakes jtW: 20 to 30 minutes w ~t &om the malnland w !he Island. The fr.I\~ hours uved ~ now used as addilional wOOinghours on the farm . Tunde Kareem, the presidenl of the farmers' assoeiatlon in lse viUage, uld, "Also, with the use of telephones. it is 50 much easier and faslet to get help In timesal aisi5. AU these ha\~ encouraged more £annen and workers to go 10 Teku le Island to work in the rice fields. which has resulted In increased produaion: The introductio n of c hain saws In land preparation has also amuibtJled 10 the boos!: in ria: produaion. The Island is II rainforest filled wi th big trees and tough bushes.. In CN1ieJ not to deplete the nUlfienlS in lin area. and also to minimise !he txllenSe5 of b005l!ng the soil o n an overu&ed farmland, the farmel$ then: practise 5hlfdng cullfval:ion or land rotallon. Use of [ncton for land clearing is nO I possible due to the !hid: \oegewion. So. WUiI about three yean ~rutIasses It11d madJeles were used In feUing Irees a nd
also eJ:pllined Ihat "the rice yields are not just higher In terms 0( quandty hut also in quality; addlnr. that the Introduclion of spt:,yen In application of pesticilles had tOlaUy pm-emed insect tnre sliltlon, 50 the rice gralns look bener In appearana and birger In ~iu.. Similarly, according 10 Abdulghaniyy ... lab;-Ololo .....o, a rice fa rmer Ind also one of th e major buyen o f rice from [se farm el5, as a resul! of the ;mpro ~ ed quaUty of Ihe ri ce graitl5, [lfOCUSins and pacbging of Ute rice for !he inlemational marktt hal: become viable. Through ttltphones Uld emails on the package, ca lls come in co n5i~tent l y from consumers and prospective distribulOr5, increllsin~ Ihe scope of the busblt$&. lnntMlions. apan from telqlh Clot and !he wernet, _rr introduced to Ihe farmen by the Lagos Slate Commercial Ag rlcuhure Development Projert (CADP) office. CADP is a comprehensive five-year project developed by the Federal Ministryof Agricultun: and Waler Resou rces in collaborali on with the World Bank and other s takeho lders. It helps partid~ting small an{l medium scale comme rcial flrmers to acceu improved technology, Infras tru c ture , nnance and
nMSt
Tunde Kareem, rice farmef makes phooe c:aJI dumg boat nde
cunlng shrubs.. This. of course, II very tedious, and even the most prodllcti~ of !he fanners canllOl afford 10 wllivate more tha n one heoare of farmland in one pllnting season, as !he wo rkers, who had to work for about 15 days on one hectan! of land, Irt paid on a dally buls.. "Prior IOlhe useofdWn sews In land pr<:parntion.- Kan:em Aid, needed abow tig!u ",mters lodear the land, and iheycould only wo rk fo r 50: houn I day because It Is such hard work. They would have 10 wOlk for 14 1015 days.. and they would each gel N2,OOO per dlY." That amounted to N240,OOO (abou t 51.soo) for land dearing alone on one heaane.. The rice yltld on ll heaarewasatleasa80bqs of SOleg.. which &Old for about NI5,OOO per ba& lhis amounlS 10 N I.2 million (S7,500) is gross yield. After other elpenses, which lndude seeds, fettili5ets, '-I~des.bird."""rin .. ~. .......--..... harvesting. uansponalion, and so on, !he !:anna" may ~ jwa about JI,500unec pro'it Bu t with the introduction of chain IiI.WS, Karet:m said, ·only two people an: needed per day, Ind th ey work for aboul eight days to dear one hr.o:are ofland. The opetalorol the machine getS paid NJ,OOO, whUe the assbtant gelS NI,GOO. Also, about NI,OOO is used ror fuelling me machlnt dal ly: This amoWlts to abou t
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moneys3ved becomesadditional income 10 the farlller. As a result. farmers hzve been able 10inaease the htclares they cultiVate, fromootto lWOorduee. EquaDy, they art able to provide e mpl oymen t for many mo re villagers, partiwJarlyin thelUN of weeding and harvesting.. Kareem
OUtput markelS. Currently, five out of !he 36 stalH In Nigeria panidpate In the project. Theharwsting in !st\iDagels done by the women and youths. The worke r gets l quarte r of Ihe rice he/s he harvells as payment. Iya Gbadebo, one of !he harvesters, said, "PracticaUy, all the women an d you!hs In 1st
village nowen~ln harvestin&-
TherelsUllIgretmenlil.lnongthe fanners for-farmers to take rums in !he harvesting of rice on !heir farms. Thisway, thevlUagerscan have anopporrunity toworkin IS manyfarmsas theydesile. "PrlOf
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byCADP,_usua1Iyspemoneor two day5 00 tad! fanner'. farm But now, it lakes about th~ to four day5 on eac:h one because farmers a re cultivating IUJer farm lands, so the quanti\)' o f rice _ harvest Is much hlghet As RIch. we now have addi tional lnco~ ForinslarK:c, after gt.'UIng a quaneroClhe rice and ttuSUng II. I used 10 get about N4,OOOCrom one day of wart. but now I get about NII.DOO(S50). "Fommlle/y, I now worl: for aboutrowd:tysor
moll' 01 1 one fann; tl'Ulltiply that by NI1,Ooo. Then I go 10 another farm M,d elm lbomlhe same 1m0l.11I· 0 u'vatuyin Mlrt. a nother female harves ter, said, ' I am glad 10. the tnvel time u~ as we lIIe able to Slart ","ott much earlienndharvestlatgerquanliry of rice Jelon: the sun becomes W1bearable. I now tam higher incoHJt fromonedayofWOft.Mo re nlke Kareem, also II farme l said Ihey have been ca1Jirg,)nCltydwdicntoinform !hem o rtht availability ofrtce In lsevila~ ~IheyUlnte(Obuy,but
"
wee::p:ctIilOtt. Thll market for ricf! in Niger ia is very huge lit the roUl_lIy IbU spends a bou r NI billion (S6.2Smillion) daily on rice inlponallon. The bulk of the domestic rit:t produaion is carriL'dowhysrnallholder£armen who INflOW taking IIdvantage of
the cunmt administratlan'sdrive towardsfoodsecuritybyreducing lmpooaDon of food to step up production and accesa; markets using simple Innovatio n and ttdmo!ogylll thtirdlsposal
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