18
T H E NATION FRIDA Yt JUNE 29, 2011
AGRO-BUSINESS STATE FOCUS
Boosting food production in Kaduna CRiCULTIlRE.aavunts ban tstunated 56 .E!!!ceru ol KadWlil Stnte 's CR)S5 IJromestic Product llOOP) and ~pl0}'3 about four million people. The stlh! piOOuces22pera!l'ltoflhenabon 'smaize,(;IJper C'IeI1I of soyabean, 36 per cent. of (QUon tInd 10 per cent of groundnuls. 1ne sector is donunllted by wet sea50rl planhng Ilnd an Lrrigaled dry season plantin& Most f.lrmen produa cett'aJ crop' such as maJU', Sorghum. millet and rice, during the rainy season. Cereal crops are nportec;I to ~ stites arid constiltJte an im~t ~ of cuh. K.duna IS one of the larpl pmducers of rice in the country. It exports substantial quanUties to othl!r stales and N!lghbOunngAfricancountries.. Thestateisaboanunportanl ~ua!f oflruits and \~Ies. J(adIJJ\a', a~ture and forest re:!lOUJ'Ce I.n' enormous. On the gentle roUlng high plains, the tropk:al ferru~ soils have been II'ItensiveJy Used for cereaf and a:Kton culbvaliorl Although the 8Oi~ art' poor becaUSf' of leaching and poor cover management. WIth ~ c:onservauoo andiand managemenl practlces, it is capable of supporting calcium-nch annual gn5S for UVe:'ltock developmenl in the northern an!:a of the stale, the soil Is good for production of large quantities of cotton Unl and 5eed for which Saba. Milirfi, Kudan, lkara, Kubau. Kauru and we local govefTUl'lCllt areas are known. Yam and ~ hiIIve suc:cessfully been productt:l.g.~h vietds with the use of kr1:iliser in tea'I1l tunes. especially In fgahi. GiMl and Bimin C ....'Mi L0n! govl'mment areu.ln ~ wefI-watert'd southeastan part. the rich d.trker.soUs are used forculbntmg cerub,. ca5SI"Ol, riceand the famous southem Kaduna ~ (Chitbl in HaU5il). In tlll' Fadamu, the dark ~ dilly soils Iverti!Jols) hiIvl' become highly valued and are focused on for Intensive agricultural activilles es~r dunng the dry ~ 1...1..rie areas of such fadamas are being used fMeconomically varuable market gardening for growing tomalol!s, chillies, sweet ~per, okra, onion. Irish potato iIInd sugar GJne using IIaaJtional "shadoof'" itrigauon (in the flOodplains/Fadama of Calma and Tubo baSans). At present, the tradlbonai irription scheme is 100 small and labourious: 10 cope .....ith the rate of expllnluon and agriculturaJ dl'velopment of the fadama larids. The state hils the potential 10 produce Ww: 4uantities and good quaUty livestock for consumption 1n !he 5"'te ilJld for int('l"-stlle Irad~ 1hen.o is good infrastruc.. hue already e'5tabl.is.hed fOf' good takr-oU 01 bI!ef, mutton. ~rl.., poultry and diary products ttl large quantities for mternationaf markets. ntt.'fe lJ need fur' a good pigg~ mdusI!Y in the JOUtMn KadWlil area. With ~ deinan<h fOr ~ as raw ~terials fOf li...t5tock feeds and for breweries, conunenj,al agriCtllltJre in grains on a large scale will be highly profit-
A
ItCT vital to agric business, says expert ARMERS un grow their buth' esse!! by targellng o pporlumties in mOO tle markets, an experl ~ Silitl 5p!!aking witt 1~ N.'llm . the DepUly-Oi(edor. Direclorale of Grar)ts Managemenl, Fedeul University of Agriculturf'. Abfokuta, Dr Kola Adebayo .. $aid market Intelligence a!1d educatiOft are importi!.ftt to farmers ' survi .... 1 In an mcreasingly compditin- mill'Juoot. He s;ud gwet 1M change in consumen' 11'mand, the emngence of hew markding channd.. ~ d variations in tuditiona marketIng channel!J, bet er Iftformatio n would hl'lp farmers align produ.tlon more closely with cunging demands. Tf'lerhoneo; aJ \d other media 0 lCT, he f;a\d, provide op~rtuOities for farmers to link with bo)'MS of agric (QmmoditiH. Thl' tdl'phote, Adebayo said, is a key mlrkebng tool available to fumers and
F
tradeT$, adding that It has thf' po~ential of lowering tr .. nsactlon costs Throu13h mobile phone applications, Adebayo el{lained thai farmers can upGad pnce and supply mformallon directly to buyers Mobile phones. he noted, bring better price integration, improved profits for trader!J, and reduces consumer Porices. He siud farmers (Quid gain greater control over their production and product sail'S byfinding new 50UrCft of demand' and improving their ability to iIIdlust supply and quality to market condllIOns. According to him. filImer5 can pro ... ide information, detailing product standards and specifications as well as market studies-particularly of external markets. Adebayo said such mlormalion have become more
as buyers. tJaders, ;tSricultunl pr0ce5501li and input suppliers According to him, farmers' information p'riorities include aennate local weather foreaos15, technical mrorm.tion sequenced according to the slage In the crop cycle, data on the costs of production and market supply. He said farmers could trade mon~ products beOIU~ they obt;uned better prices through real-lime market ~arCh conducl~ via mobile phone. According to him, rural acce5S to lelt'phones can
i~:~e:~o~f ~~,
prefer local-lanJ;uilge lext me5Sllges, es~lIy when! the information is of qualIly. accunte and funely.
r.
v.rul' chainS-including dJllaba5e of contacts. sudi
raise incom~ (rom farms ;lind other rural businesses. Adeb .. yo uplained that the industry has el(panded to II level where a~ro bU5i-
nes5eS am use pna! information IS • means of promoling other products to farmer-. t-Ie .s.ld farmeTS would
oDl~
According to hun, deploying SM5-baseci agricultural Information services, will I'~power field extension offia:rs and provide holistic agricultural information services directJy to farml'rl. SMS-baSt'd services, he noted, are likely locost considerably less than sending out mobile extension oHicers, where the farmers have acCt'SS to the Lnlernel. HI' Nid farmers will be able to expand their reach of searc.... ble markets, sell in more markets, and increase their network of contacts.
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Fed Govt dishibutes improved rice, maize gnons T ~,counc'l seeds t 0 f arnters 1Itio;."""""''''''''''~'''' HEN,ti! •...JAgri<uI-
tunl
planting
~~-~~ dlstribuhcn )f sefeds to
only interested in fertiliser
enlighten farmers on the
farmer.; in c.,untry. Its Co-onfinating D.rector, Me 0 1 _ OIO\lkun. said in Abuja_ OlIitokun saiil the Federal Govemmmtdedded logive out improvej rice and maize 5ftd.~ free to farmer5 under th l> I\f;ricult-ural Transformiltinfl Agenda (ATA), to t'nh.mce pnxtucti ... ity. He noted thl,t the rail" al which farmers uked for seeds und er tJ>e Gro ..... th Enhancem ent Support (GES) scheme AI IS low. "We d oo·vee<l in a field re'VK"W thai mo-ot farmers are
and chemicals. They believe!hey can plant grains in place Of seeds." Olalokun said the distributiOR of seeds started on June 19. afta' two weeks of "'massive" pubUcity and sensilisation of farmen in the J6 states. He added that the fn!e dJ.s. lribution of 50kg of ria and 40kg of maize in various redemption centres would end on July 4_ Any farmer who failed to coUect his allocation within five weeks will wait bll next year, he added . explaining that the sen5lbsation would
benefits of planting improved seeds: "'If .. f.umer does not plant improve:! seed. then! lS no amount ol fertiWier lha.t will make the yie&d betu and if the yieid 1$ not good. then we are p g back to the old era of low productivity level" Oialo«un noEdthatRllJ5td the ~ used fertilise' to elant thetr grains, stressing thai tim would not provide
th,
good yDi " Right now, the average )'JeId Of old vanety rICl' seeds III N"'8l'"II i5betwem twoan::l tfUft' toones pu hectare and
Mlh ,lot '"
-me Federal Government
is giving out free.seeds because we have to plan for 2013; and If the ilh-eady produced seeds are not sold. producers won't have funds to produce more. II is also to met't the ~et of government on food 5eCU* rity." He further explained that the seeds are to enhance producti ...ity. Olatokun said the Federa1 Go ...ernment had procured 1,750 tormes of cotton seeds, of which 1,450 lonnes had been distributed to fanners by the West Afrian Cotton Company (WACOT).
The state government Is In~& feasibility studies and seeklng Inlerested mdll5trialists and agr<HJlied companies to lfWest 11\ the. area. To encourage farmers. the govemrnftlt has ronantrated CIIl. pruviding certain capltaI=intenstve ~
.such
as ungahon and earth <Wns m LhI' Tubo v~, supplying them WIth im~ 5ftds and ~g farm input. The go ...ernment of ICiIduna has laudable POlice geared towardS Ullerule aaricultund acbVl1H.'$ ostens4bly AS a means for rt'dudng the roommg level of )'outh unentploytMnl. Governor r.trick Ibrahim Yakowa is commItted to adcl.reMing the relative lack. of in\ll'5tmenl in agricultun!: by reactivating the extension services to open more opportunities 10 f;1rmers to acquire modern knowledge of agricultural p ractice. Thi~ is aimed atlitimulaUng growth. Since the mcephon of the admiruslrahon. bOth the peasant and the medium scale farmers have been the major focus of the Kaduna Slate Agricultural De\'e)opmenl Project(KAOP). SOme of the )'early activities bt'ing pursued vigorously by the MOP, mclude sales and suppfy of agricultural inputs such as seeds, irrigatIon pumps. knapSKk: 5~yers and agricultural chemll:ils at govt'rnment approved 1iUbIIdy of between 40 and 60 percent to support the Carmen. 10 ensure good quality Seeds, the 5~te .8ovemment in c:oIlaboralion with the lrutitute 01 A&~.uural Resa.rdl (tAR) and Agricultural Seeds Counc:iL lIf'ils Improved vanl'lies of seeCI~ during the planting season. Fadama m p~. a World BanI( AsslJt~ PmJ«:t is be~ Implemented in Kaduna in collaborabon with the Fed~ral Government in all the 23 loc:aI government areas. The development objective of the Fadil\Jrull DJ Project is to incrl'llSe the Incomes of n-~.----~-__, UX"rJ of rural land and water resource on a SUlItainable basis. The .sllte government Is committing N 45 million yearly while the 23 LGA5 ,.,. N2 miI6on .... "' .......
--"'... ..-mll-<_ . Signifacant achIevements
have been made In the area of improvement of rum! infrnstructure which Includes construction of eight Fadama roads of over lOKiJometres and 100 market stalls as dem.lnded by thf' proj«t benefidaria