DAILY TRUST
Tuesday, November 22,2011
Business/Agric
IOrganic agriculture has I h1 u ge ipotentiaisforN igeria' bf
practice. distribution and sale organic production at both st~te and federal levels. For aample.1n cocoa producing areas, area des-
Prof. , JOjhatr an I 0latunbosun Babatola (u\rently at the Organic Agrictl\tur: (e~tre of thi ~ooi Plantation Ib,., anI isI a ritired Professor of I I Plant e~ t~l qgy ardfurmer Executive 0ireq1r p~Nati?nall Hortic~ltural Research I rsti~te \NIHORT). In this intervlJwj~e sReakS on !he pot,ntials and c~~II~¢ge~ of o~anic farming.
ignated for organic cocoa requires
legislations banning the use bf pesticides to ensure that no peshdde residues can be located in the cocoa beans. What are the challenges y?U face in propagating this Dew method offarming? 1 First, lack of knowledge and understanding of Qrganic agticulture.. People are skeptical ab$t new ideas more so when do not understand the prind~le .1 • , , By Abuba\ arl\'lomo~ &Tina Ha*,~ and practice. Also, there ,re inadequate organic agric extlerts in Nigeria. All agriculturists Hmv\ ionH! b ~\f you be~D im'o lved in organ idagHollture! Nigeria received training ill cOflventional agriculture and u'lW I har~ bydn Infolve4 in qrganlc agricul· there is an adjustment to this p,rture forpvM2('YfaIS af,he ~"l!]of research into bi~.p~jicldr for op~rp9uction but adigm shift, we would stick to qur basic training techniques. as the ' ie ~ E~CfUtiv ofljHllORT, I was bu~e~ d ~1itJ~ ~e p{obl;m!of pesticide Thirdly. Nigeria does not h$' any policy on organic agric 1reslduc tln rJults d "ege4ili1es wbich we tore:- Bureaucrats and busin sconsulT\e ~ tual , raJ; Wha; ~ , the ,b enefiu qf organic agrimen involved in fertilizer ~iness wot1ld not accommodate ateverwill culture' I affect their trade. This is also eofdealers or~il Itgricultwf pr~vides safe and in inorganic pesticides. But both conven· wholesJm rOl)~and row ~atrrials devoid , of pestlci ~s residue.' anl1 contaminant tional and organic-farming can tontinue to , which l (.1~ ~ Dtally oflt he fon.commuw. exist together in the country btcause each cable difeaf~S ~u{h as quacc;r, h)'l>ertensioD, system has its own market There is no serious gm·e rdment supdi,",' "\, 'II. port for organiC agriculture t.roduction oriani, pr~uce c;ummand premium and business in Nigeria. LastlY'lall over the price thf ~I')bfu org;micF~t thereby I giving~ 1 10fl! '(we fo~ the efforts of the j world when: organic agriculture has taken farmer, porfr1y to; thu1 allel..-j~ted. Safety of root, it has always been through private soil, Vol er~d 4r is a$Sur~d since the re is sector initiative. However, in Nigeria the private sector is scared about dgricuiruraJ. no inu¥~CID pf utfane.f.ul and dangerinvestment because they are nOt prepared ou.s cheinl,,11s into lh~propuftion ~ ystem. Willlo~llj~ far"1ing l ~uire. a new to buy the management and tlJe technical know-how. legis.lation ~ Wbat i5 the market potential for Org~ni5 agridul~' as practiced today may require ce'1ifica ion pf prOduce and , organic fanning products! • T here is a growing market ror organic prodwf. There ,'wi.l.l a a point be Ule need for s0o'lc r'orm Of regiJtratjon to guide the produce and products glob4y' In 2009,
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taken ou t ofit The use of manweandcomp<>st replenish the soil and bio·pesticides 'keep pests and diseases away. I How have the local fannen responded to organic &noing? . My centre has started with an advocacy · to sensitize farmers and the consumers on the need to rerum to the near nature production system which is akin to the natural farming system of our farmers. Produce such as palm oil, cash ew, cassava, sugar cane and sesame are produced by our farmers without fertilizerso~anychemicals. The produce mentioned above are organic by default because they h!lore not been so cer· tified. Farmers are enthusiastic about this because production cOSts are reduced when chemicals are ~ot used ~d better prices are paid for such produce.1 What support have you received £rom state, federal gO \'emmen!s and international bodies? . The centre has notfeceived any finan cial or any kind of support from an)' government. We have thrived on programme conceptualized by us' and supported by interested agencies. We have partnership with Agro-Eco-Louis Bolk Institute o f the Netherlandsand wear~ gainingmoreexpe· Dellce from their work in East and South Africa and they are partnering with us in our training programme. How will )"Ou a ttract inYestors? Our advocacy. first is to let Nigerians appreciate the advantage of organic agri· culture and appreciate the potential con· tribution by way of diversification of our agricultural producti9n to strengthen the economy. Once the awareness is created, and the market Is assured, it is then easy I to attract would· be investors since they can be easily assisted Ito access the global organiC market. One imp<>rtant difference is that standards are important in organic agriculture and branding by certification agencies is key to entering the market The organiC market is open not only to big tim' farmers but also to srrlall scale farmers an commodity groups.
this market in Europe and in the US was estimated at $69 billion. This market is growing exponentially each year. We hilve an advantage in Nigeria because we have a dh'ersif'ied ecology ana we can produce on our field all year round. unlike in the northern and southern hemisphere where in the winter months their production is limited. . j How will organic ag riculture. address the nutrient d eficiencies in soUl The soil isa living entity with natural balances. This in most of our soils had been altered to the detriment of agriCultural pro· duction. Orgarucagriculturc: uses very low enernal resource input, hence soU fertil · ity build up and rnaintenance utilize only materials available in the environment such as farm waste residues and stubbles which simply return to the soil what had been
(Qft~n merchants
Horticulture college boss alarmed 'oyer poor market laments poor funding I tity of the commodity with no market for the product. I - r his year, cotton farmCOTTON merchants iO the no F, a.~t~n p~rt of "'recorded bumper barthe c # hll\'~ raised th~ ves because they got the alarm ~vc thei r inability seed and planted enough 10 aC~ j I s a.tk~s th~t v,;11 but :as it is now, the-farmenabl~ ~h fl-itpos~llaJ-gf I I us lare in trouble due to Jnb:rtaintybfthe space to quanL c ,cpu0"f prDjmarkets their product.duced in tht ~gio n tbiS I The chairman who season bl amed the Bank ofindus· Speaking tOf ne"1men tries' (BO I) failure 10 in GOrbbfJ the north ea~ nation~l lfe c~a~an 9f release funds to textile thecotto~ 11(rcpants,assq- industries for th e situation ciatiOlJ or liigeria Alh~F said, -if the textile indus· tries had gotten the monMusa. 1uMaru / saidl ies pledged by the federal (' Si.tuatipn ' thre~tenJng tp kill cOl10n r,r~tng fl the government, they would contact the merchants who countIj)' brCJ·-·~1 e fa~me* will in turn buy it dire ctly have produ ,arse quan· ,,,t , ·1
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From Lawallbrallim, Gombe tJenecks that often hider from the farm ers.~ smooth accreditation of THE Federal College of their programs. He noted that Wliess Thecollegewhich he said that was don ~ the situa- Horticulture in Gombe has urged the national assembly is the first of its kind in sub· . tion would worsen since only the textil~ industries to re·amend the amended saharan Africa faced severe Education . Trust Fund problems of low budgethave the capafity to buy (£IF) now Tertiary Educa- ary allocation releases, it. "Most of IJur cotton tion Fund (TEF) bill to enainadequate office accomginneries in the country are lying co~atose and . blesimUarcollegesaccessits modation, departmental do not have th e requisite intervention funds that "';Hr · buildings and classes, fruits I resource~ to eyen activate allow thl!lIl resolve myriad processing units, irrigation their mac hiner and there of infrastructure challenges. and audio visual facilities arc: no help fr~m the govAddres.sing house of repwith about 80')6 of its staffs ! ernment:' he lamented. resentative committee on operating without offices. He urged the Bank of agriculture, the provost of DrGuramalam~tedthat the college Dr A.U Gurama for the 10 years of existence industries (BO~' the Central Bank (CB ) and the advocated that, as a tertiary of the college, it has survived fed eral minis , of agriCulinstitution, there's need for YoithOutacentraiadminiSITa' / ture to immediately come them to access the Interlive building. utilityvclUdc:s, up with an ihtervention vention Funds to enable it generator as well as poor address some facility 001- communication netwo rk. packages to asiis t them.
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He however h ighlighted some of the achievements reco rded in the three year of his stewardship to pur· sue the college's mandate including conducting training for extension agents, technicians resulting to the award of National Diploma and Higher National Diploma in horticulture techrlologyand related disdplines, Chairman, House Com· mittee on agriculture Mohammed Tahirl Munguno pledged to ensu re legislative inter.iention in amending the fill to include the colleges to enablethem ameliorate fIlost of th e problems.
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