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Octobe r 12, 2011
Vol. 1 No.5
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SOlne farmer.r; In var\OUJi.area 'oundls
In the FCf hav_c -complained of lack of
inaterlitls lo.usisblhern to maRe bump!'+
Abuba..Ur Kalln'l Wadi, "tho halls from or ha'·c Irrigallon process siled in such RUbochi village; 1" KUJe Area Council ,. places.. ' ol,lhe FCf.,said (armers Jh tlie tcrirc ,·"We have ri~rbll5in~ but Ihere are no eager to' work butlRc.k l.a.cUitles 10 eocour-
(acillil~·s to faclU t;!.tc: them .. exccpt facll l-
hirVe5t l lld a,=c::U!Jw gav~ent bf not age therri~ , 1 ties ar1lI;!Jld Kuka farm"in Kwali Area enough encoungemmts, ~. According 10 l::ilm; farmct'$ cannot CounciJ. wh~te the AgHeuhurnl Devel· • NatItlD~t Prcs.i,dent of RIce sar~e r~ ' cnly dep~ndon 'i"lnfallf _but.need oppu~n!yroJe<:t tADP) Dow.inh~fited by A~odatJuo ,o f N!lIcti3 {!}IFANJ AI~~iljl fiitms ( 0 b~ ~n nC(t~a (o. RjllerJ!,islnS ·..... :\:~':i ~CMllln~OItl'#gt r ..... '
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DAILY TRUST
VI
Wednesday, Oclober 12,2011
NEWS
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Rice --arm (OIIflnUtd from poge I
F~dama IIJ , made som t ponds for rice fa rmers 10 use," he ~a id. He nid that rain (ails betwee n three Iud four months; which Is no t adeq uate 10 culti vate rlc c. The RIFAN le.adc r also complained Ihal suitable land fo r rice productJo n has bun acquired by government and nali vc:J haye no right 10 such places. ~Thc only areall where farmcn can CUiliulc rice Is at Pa ndagl communily In Abaji Arca Council o f Ihe FCT and Kon toourfc, in Kogi Stale. The areas are Rlled wilh-waler bul have bad road s and farmeu in such places swilch to othe r JobJ~ he said. He dc:scribed as low. the processes of producing ri cc: in the FCT, adding that hthu made va rious prese ntations to th e FCT Administration o n how to improve on ag ric ulture generally and ri ce farm ing in particu lar. -, remember so metimes, I to ld them ofP,m dagi village, where there a re about )0,000 hectares of fertile land me;/,I\l for rice producti on th at can be developed but nobody paid atte nti on to it. \'It!: also mad e anot her case fo r Yab. in Allaji Arca Counc il an d nobody liHened to u,,~ he added. The rice f;/,nner 5' It:ad er sa·id It Is d lfl'icuil for farmers to o rgan ise t hemsel ves \0 co nstruct roads, d ear f, lIow land, purch~se tra.::lon, cfU!m iCih as well as good ueds. Heuid it is o n.l Ythis ye ar th:H th e fe d~ra l to llnislry o f Ag licuitu r.! alloc .. led S(eds (or o nward tra nsmission t.l farm· trs in tht!:co u nuy.
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EvenwHenferti. 'Iizer is ~ubsidiied the products are , hijacked by-mid· die men. So as far as agriculture is concerned, ,we , have been farm· ing 1with' tears, ..." WhCltever a"o~ cation they,are giving US, it is just ,_crocpdile tears, ' and they do~'f app,ear hohe~t r ' --, about it :
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( - Even when fenilizer Is subsid h:e d, the products arc h ijacked by middle men. So as far as agricult ure is concerned, we have been farming wilh tears. W hateve r allo · cation they arc giving us, it is just croco· dll e lears, a nd they d o n' l appear honest about it; he said. AlhaJI Wad i «plalned fu r ther th at wh enever fertilizer is 10 be di strib u ted by area co uncil officials, middle m en mobilise thd r agen u 10 bu y Ihe bags by p rClending 10 be farmers. He advised such ca uncU bones to consider allowing the traditional institutions to h andle such sales since Ihey know thei r subjecls. especiall y those who arc furm cu. - The em ir is there, the chier is the re, th e disl.ri cl head Is the re, the village head Is there and these a rc avenues wh ere fe r· tiliur can reac h ge nuin e rarmers,M h e added. Another fu rme r; Ib ra him, said he wishes th e sys tem is Open, whereby a farmer who runs short of fertili ze r while work.ing on his farm, can jumr o n his bicycle an d rid e to the palace' 0 Ihe dis· tr ict's head 10 buy th e proJuct. l ie aCCUSed poliliciall5 of p olitlcizillg fe rtili zers sale in order to gi·,c Ihe m to th ei r cro nies inslead of aSiocia ti onii whw! farmers belong. Alhaj i \'Iod i, h owever disclosed th at th e Ricc Farmers' Assoclalion oiNlgeria is m aking arrangemt nt til im1'rove a nd p u ~ h the p rvce~s of their rlee productlOIi, so thal lhey ca ll achlc\'e posit ive rU n ih on l ime. He said when SlIch plans m:lteriali ses,
those enjoying rice Imp Ol"lation prdcnt l, will be desrabilized afler local ri ce Ooods tht market . The riCe farmer advised governmenl lo stop bei ng inconsistent with thdr policy on agriculture a nd shou ld establish a co mm issio n th aI will be res pon;;-ible solely for agricultural d evelopment. AlhaJ i Wodl said Ihll ill Ih e I,ast, the Commission on Agriculture would eD.\,ure effec tive se rvice delive r)', adding thallhe primary focus of the commission wou ld be to independently coo rdlnale ag ri cultural policies and th ei r proper implemen l. lion. He berated th e inconsistencies in ~ uch policies a nd said the commissio n , ..1\1 be a place 10 crYilalli u ideas, ta.\;:e d ecisions (01 th e g.;)od of rice farmers. - The com · mo d ity a.ssoclat lon5, commoditi es devel· opment and markeling compan ies will be: und er the commission; th t y will be able 10 inlu nall y d elermlne the qu alltyof th e agricultu ra l pro du cts, do the marketing ali we ll as have auton"my 10 tu ry oul ils activi ti el~ h e add ed. He said cfforl5 were o n to Im n farmen on th e n ew planti ng h:d miques to hdp th em illereue ri ce uutput. 0 11lt!:r faml crs spoke'l to il t Nyany~ , Gwagwalada, Swarl and Kuje also com · pl:iine.1 t,f tad:: of Stri c us actions fro,n governnleOi at all le.. el ~ during lilrn'iing sco;,sons. T ltey sai:! w],cr.cvcr fa,mlll S ma[('riais arc purcllucd for distri bUliu ns, lite prO'(S$C.. 'lre alwa)'5 hijacked by I..i,; dle n) cn .. u-,p;:. uJ 10 :,;: i~om an agrl.1 OJ; g~' cr nm.llt ~ Ho '" d., mi.Jdlemell I. ",\,' wh.!n fo! Tll1iu['i:; re 10 I", dbl rii.luu::J lind
why theY .llre ah ....Iyt i I'o'OU{L-d than ge nuin.: (;lTIll c rs~ t.ius.l Ab dullahi , il farmer asked. The fa rm er said if gove rnment \Vant~ 10 achieve its ta rgel .,ffooJ su m ci;: ncy iu Ihe cou nl r y, th ey sh Juld f .lYmo re !lttention 10 what h appc,\S in the area CO Ull· Clli. AWu lb.hi ac.:u~!d so me co un cil offici, ls of ,>,orkinll for . heir i e!nsh illiere ns inslC':Id of working t ... achieve gove rn men t's agenda. - We are ti red of It-eh peo ple as we can · not co ntinue \0 wor k under such cooditl ens," h e added . lie ctlled o n go~e l n me(,t'$ anti co nupUc.n bodies to Im·eiligiile Ihe act ivities o f ar.:!a co uncili In Urd:1 (0 b rin g sanity 10 tho.::s ynem. ~Sl il ce we voted fn r people 10 rep rese nl us in th e .. rca cO Ull t th . we have not i een I n y meaningfu l devd opOl ~ n t project in our area .li nd d o nO I kllow how mu ch the council aIlOCll.te5 10 agricuilure or o th er pr,)jccu bec ~u Je the sl'sum Is 1101 o pen ," ~ famer Slated . I-Ie called fot a ch.al·t!:r proccss, whe re m<!m b ers of the pll bli c: ';:Ull know how much arca coun cib are I!il'en from lht!: rellel1l110n'5 accouni u well IS how much re,·enue they ge neral! In 01Je r 10 be mon° il<.l red c:!o ..dy by the p"bli.: It \ tot tM be (cculh j I hal Juri ng th e fer· "User J is t r ibulion I n, ..:o:~. Jllhe to(gin·, ,) illlj: . f the fannin: ,ea~.' n . c:h alril1cn .•f vario us ar.;:a c(l uIo" I. iu . he FCT \1)1,1 . he p .lbli.. l.h:'lll: o: U,'Si(l .•.ed prud<lCl i .... 111 bcgtv.:n. ,ul hi u.ll y ta ihl tU Ih "1ugn o:ell:1I11 •. 1... i.ilille-; lI.e)' .;a •••" up wil h 1<1 . n:,11I tl,~ y gt't t(l Ii ,right lunJ, .