14
THE NATION F~DAY. OCTOBER 26, 2012
STATE FOCUS
Boosting food production in Kebbi GRlCUlTURE acrounts for a substantial aspect of Kebbi State's economy. Food crops include gWnt:'iI com. rire and inil1et while cash crops include groundnul and cotlon. • Others Bre wheat, beans, tobacco, sugar cane. sweet potatoes and vegetables, wch as onion, pepper and tomatoes. Almost75 per cent of lhe ~pu lalion moke their living from farming. Many factors give Kebbi its c(Jm~~tive advantage in the agri-foOd sedor. The slatt:' boasts of rich a agricultural land. About 200,000 hectares of Ihe land are fadama land , mainly un the flood plains of the Rima lind Niger valleys. The rest is upland, where season cultivation by main,>, small fanners dominate. AgnCulture continues 10 dominate the state's economy. II is also the largesl contributor 10 the stilte' s coffers. Farming is mostly based on indigenous tech· niques, using lacal inrut! of seeds, family and anima labour and informal credits. Anjmal Lndion is used DmOng the Katnba.ri,Dukawa and Dakarkarl. Indigenous forms of cultivation are, hoWever, gradually gIVing way, as more farmers now use Im'pTOyed seed Varieties, chemical f('rHliser, formal credit (a~tlities, ploughs and tractors. Due to migration of family members, indigenous forms of fonn lobuur also are gradually bcing replaced by hired labour, Some farme~s rear callie, sheep and goals to augment their income. These animals are fed y.·ilh the s talk of grains, and leaves of II~mes_For the most part, ani'mals are grazed in the open field ·around lne vUJage and in the fadamas. Animal wastes are in ~rn used to manure the field_ (herdall!. some (orm o( mixed farming Is practised, Most animal rearing is done by the Fl.lJani who osdlate from north
A
Osun opens cattle ranch
T
HE Qsun State gO\--emmen1 has
opened a cattle mnch wi'len!
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For 1I\Sl8nCe. hedisdoged!ha1 in I.,a.AOS ilion!!. about 6,000 cattle are S1aughlcrro daily In the abattoirs, while the remauung r~ stall'S rombined ~tively IIIXOUnIS for another- 6,(0} bastld on their lulal populalioo. This trlInsIitles to a hugt' Not" billioo pcrannum. This hUS" m.1rket demand for- beef, the ~"l!I'TICIr a~. C3rT1f"1i the pot1ntiarto empower the smleand the entire Southwe>t people ecooomiolily through wealth creation.
~It is the ot..;ecth~ of this itdministration m the State of <>sun 10 creale
the enabling elwimmnenl that
By Daniel Esslet
II
new agro-based industry is emersing. ThiS is part of II plan to assISt live-SIl.'Ck fanners to improve milk and meal production. Governor Rauf Aregbesola.who opened the beef farm • said it would boost self-reliilllCl!! in food ymduction as well as create oo:JnOfJlk bases and fOb opportunities for the poopk>. The Otoba Farm Settlerrienl at Iwo, acmn:Iing 10 \he gov~t. l'l primarily targeted al boosting agricul~, meal and food productioo. food pn~g and rrwa Ilgro-OOsed employment. ~a'5 theory is thai gIVen the hllge market for cattle in Cap and other .southwest stales. animal n!.lring has become a IUCr.Iti\'c busines5 fOr Osun. "... """""'" do;cribod ... ___ Dill of the beef market in the South....'eSt M huge. addmg lhat II could noI bo: ""'3~ i&ie by visionary govern-
Will
make this happ!IL "We will ~ dt'dic:atmg and df"\-eIoping hundreds of hectares of land
inlo gr.mng reserves. cattle markets.. breeding centres, and fattening hubs. This will be in addition 10 the new central abattoifs thai we are develop: ing IJl seI«ted town.o; iICIU!IS the state," A~besoIa !l<\ld. It IS agamst this backdrop lhal the
government began a study of the proc('ss 10 comt:' up wilh a progr<ImTTJe that will be indigmous 10 ihf:' state and the n:gionln February 2011 , th~ OISSlgnment look them 10 the Intemiluonal UVf:'Stock Re!!ean;h Institule (lLRI) in [badan. whm! they di5cu.ss«! about building partnt:'rships to help the stale deo.'eIop a r0bust fmmework ror implementing an irmovati\'t:' ('~mme that f0CUS(5
~~=tof~~n;:".!:'~~
tween the Osun learn and the IUU is
Iht:' abaUoir-linked f:'flterprio;es that indue\(' faltening. t>reeding and marketing lK'livities. ~,govemment decided th.ltthe stralegic option for tht:' stale is 10 adopt lherillH!chain approach lode-
vd~ the ~ Sl'doc in the stall.', with a preliminary target.. excluding production for local ronsumption, Of
SerVing a minimum 10 per ct'fll of the LaS05 6JXXl CilttJe pc!!' day market. This,. it was gathered, woold be achi~ Ihrougn a stratf:'gIC initiative incorporating acthoilie such a.<; (little gmetia impro...emmt. breeding, fattening, slaughlt:'r and beef marketing. With the t"e$1..Iltlllg stratq;Jc dISCUSsi(Wl ",~Ih the ILRf,Detwem DI-rem-
her 11th and 16·, 2011 , AregbesoI~ led a dclegationof o;ek!cted state govt'mment OFficials on a kJur of the ambian agricultural industry. Researm revt'aled that Zambia has ~ whal could be achie\'oo thmugh. ilgrirulture 115 a means fOf cn'iIling jobs and wealth for ~ peopil-. The first, it was gathered. hingt!d on gaining a fitst hand understanding of the Zambian SllO:e!S story in agricultural deveJopmefll, as _11115
to begm the dC1o·t:'lopmenl of the bed sector in Osun. TIle programmf:' hlt Ihe ground running and this result is the Oloba (3lue mIlCh. which the govertlOf reYealed would not ~ the only 0fIt' in the stalc as dforts are on to estnblish ITIDI'1' in viable iorntiOllS in tht:' stalt:'.OIOOa Cattle Ranch is
about 78.8 hectares in si7..e. Plans are afoot to establish othcfs in Ede(400 hmares) and Ejigbo(l,OO) hecta~). Land has been acquired for this purpose! and the location would ha~'e grning rl9.'l"Ve5 and cattle hub - mduding markets. fe«f mills. The gr.uing I"l.'9."IVeS will help us 10 tackle !he rt'OlITing feud between the Fulani pastoralists and the crop fiJ~ usually an.1Sf:'d 115 a result of cattle grazing on fanTIS.. 11.1 Pre5Cllt. the ranch, which is being managed by a Soulh African expert in conjunction with mlema· tional lnshtute nf Tropical Agri· culture (lITA) and Faculty of Agriculture, Obafem.i Awolowo University, has 1500 caltle sourced locally. ThI! farm is hem!\: run with the techni(31 direction 01 foreign Tf:'Chnical Partner.; from Zambia and South AIri~
Accotding to the governor, JO foreign species of caliif:' (3l1ed the Zambian Boran, would bt- introduced 10 the ranch with a view to gertetia11y Cl"06ISbreeding them with local ones to ~ new indigenous spedes.When 'u1lrin operation, the ranch, which wi! be run 011 eublk priVlltt:' parloership ba.~is,. will ha,'e modem ilbaltair thai offers ~ice5 10 Ihe peopil- at a low('l" rate. Go"emment also II1tcnds to promotI' the eslablishl1'lf'l11 of cattle ana 13m feedlots and as such, efforts art:' in progrt'!<S 10 pul Ihe feedlot infrastructure in plaoo 10 a ( ' oommodate 1.soo mlti!!. At the maximwn OIpacity, lhis ranch will accommodatt:' up 10 10.000 c:attle being fattened at the same time Not only that, the Oloha Callie R:urlI wooki ad :s II breeding rentre (Of a (oreign bnoed of mltle known as the Boran, 50 as to dl!Velop a nt:'w breed of <:allie that is indigenous to the Soulh-We51 by Cf095o-brieding!he Zambian-8omn with local breeds5uch as !he White Fulani and ~kotoGudali TIle fe5ulting OIlIle, il is exp«ted. will have Fler mpadty to prod\..lc:e meat.ll1IIkms calOe fattening and br.ef production a Vt'r)' pmfililble endeavour for !he sL,te..
Ministry to 4nport 173,000 tonnes of fertiliser
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ilE Fl"deral ~overnmenl will import 173.000 tonn~ of fertilISer 10 boost agricuJlural production n('Jl'l year. According to a staterrn:nl by Dr Olukayode Oyelt:'ye, the S~al ~stanl to the Minisler or Agri· cullureand Rural DevelopmenfDr i\kinwumi Adl!Sina, the importation woul'" add up to tht:' 260,000 lonnes to be produced locally by IJeC"ember wFor fertiliser, although 610,000 tC)tlfll'S are expected by lJre.cember, r<'Cords from the ministry sh.ow that 167.540 lonnes lire available, gomg b)' feelers from those that
T
have re-<pondoo 10 our Inquiries on
~availabiltty_ ~t:'
wrote 10 ilbout 12 fcrtili.!iCr companiesandsi)(ofth05C."thatpt:'rformed well have sent their slock position to us, on what they can produce between now and [)prem5e:r. NEfforts are already bemg made 10 imporl 173,000 lonne and produee 260,OCKJ t()flfl($IOOlI~ by December; the minisl!!r sai Adesina also said the ministry had sl"1Irted 'f..sl-tTilck measures' to increi\Se food production through dry season planting befO«' the f:'fld of y!!ar.
- nus IS 10 forelall food shortage followmg the flood disaster 111 many statesohhecountry, ~ Adesina said. To foreslall the cri~is, he said that the ministry had begun a 'double-up farming ' to ensurt:' rapid respon!H'Rnd enhimced pro· ductivity He directt!d thE- directors 10 regis1('1" farmers and assist Ih05(' already registered on the piRiform of Ihe Growth EnhallCrlTl('l1tScheme(GES) for more food producti(>n. Adesina spoke at a meeting with di~ors and heads of departmt!flIS nof the ministry
to south_
There are ninl:! forest re5en'es in Kebbi, and there are poc~t:s of 'natural' forl!Sts in the south and soulhcast,wh.ich yidd forest resources such 1'1$ wood, thatches, fruits as well as being sanctuaries for wildlife. Already, the forests in tht:' 'Verine 8n!a!l of the slate are exloiled for wood, used in boat uilding at Yami. while in the other parts of the state (around luru), the people use the wood in carving moriars. pestles and haodles of various Impleml:!nts like hoes and kniyes,. Existing forest resources are, however, underse\'"efe threat by animal grazing. bush burning and sourcing for (uelwood' These have cau~hl the I attention of the Kebbl Slate Ministry of Agriculture, and Natural Resourres, the Kebbl Stale AIfor· estatlon Programme (KSAI') .and the Kehoi Stale Em'ironmental rrotectlon Agency ( KS6I'A)_ These agencies have pushed through \'arious edicts to curtail the wanton destruclion of forest resources. Furthermore, they i!"'ave undertaken campaigns to imr,ro\"e the quality and number of orest reserves m the sloate. Kebbl has abundanllivt'Slock which include catUe, sheep,
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By o.nle/ Esslel goats, camels, horses, donkeys, pigs and poultry. A survey of livestock potential in the statc_ The slate ranks among the five with the highest numbir of livesiock. It exports quite a subsbmtiaJ numbeT to O\.h& parts of the country. The importance of livestcxk. in the economy of the stale GUt be deduced from the number of slaughtered yearly_ II is estimated that about 110,000. 152,000 and 211 ,000 cattl£', sheep Bnd goats are slaughle~d yeady in the stale.. Thus hides and skins are an important livestock subsedor. 111e government has invested NI.6 billion in the lFAD-assisled Communily·Based Agricultural and Rural Development Programme (CDARDP) m the last three years_ The programme is being finanCed by th~ mlematJonal Fund for- Agriculturel De.v~ment (WAD), with the fed~ral, states and local government providing counterpart contribution. The progr;tmme has ht:'lped youthS to be seJf-employed bv providing them With wllter pumping machines and boreholes to irrigate their crops An improved varie!), of cowpea and millet have lieen introduced to the beneficiaries by the Institute for Agricullurar Research, Ahmadu Bello UniYersity (ABU). in collilboration with lnternalional Institute of Tropical Agriculture (liT A}, Ibadan,wlth a \.flew to attracting bUyl!rs from Niger Repub-
lic. The programme gave farmers Improved varieties on cowpea anti miLIet,which Ihey call 'wanke- [FAD' and ·i:laWa· IFAD', The fanners tried if and found it to be high-yielding and Ih.ey ha\'e abanaoned the old vanety. It has also boosted crop and livestock production with the provision of improved seeds and work bulls, among other support, he said. The rocus of the government is to promote fl:realer agricultural productivIly, strengthen early warning and response sfslems lind improve UyeUhooi:l.s. To achieve these, the government works 10 facilitale the necessary changes in the agricultural sector and ladlitilte the transfe.r of best practices and technologies.