PrOpCom increases rural iocomes through fertilizer supply
purchase al average world fertilizer distribution is one of t1. consumption is around main reasons for thi路 93 kg per hectare (ha) of low consumption. Few cultivated land but commodities are C1' BY JIMOH BABAAfrica's average heavily politicized, W1U; TUNDEWITH consumption languishes many politicians usi!1q AGENCY REPORT at 20 kg/ha. Taking fertilizer supply and North Africa out of this subsidies to game. equation, fertilizer votes and rewar" HE African consumption for subpatronage. This ha continent accounts Saharan Africa drops to implications beyond )m for 18% of the world's 8 kg/ba (or 0.6% of world fertilizer consumptlOl cultivated land area but consumption). Firstly, tbe subsidies only 3% of its f"rtilizer This is a far cry from which cost th, consumption. Put the target of 50 kg/ba by government dearly, vel' another way, the 2015 set by African often benefit the wron. ministers at the 2006 people. During tho Africa Fe';lilizer Summit 2008/9 farming seaso] m AbuJa. in one state, PrOpCol ~ ___________. _ _ _ _ The. Food and established that 10% 0\ threshing costs a farmer manufacturedmmi-thresher ------A-g-r ,-c-,u--l- t-IT re---ratlners'receiVeii"me N6,000 (#24) per hectare designed to meet the needs 3~It~d,sr::t1ton 0(fF1~e) gov~rnment.subsidised and takes only one da . of Nigerian rice farmers. . a lOns. fertIlrzer and, of those, 路 Y I After a brief design phase estImates that NIgenan over two-thirds paid 40'/ M anua I th res h mg a so .' farmers apply Just 7 kg/ leadstohighergrainlossesmanufacturebeganearlym h ff rtili t th il more than the state around 10% compared with 2010, with the first a e IZ1f t~ e so subsidised price. Hence just 2% for mechanised demonstration taking place ~~e, r:o~;'d 56 :g;a~1 almo~t 90% of the state' threshing.Similarly,manuai m July. 2010. The nutrients, in the form of SUbSIdy,. worth .abou threshing is more likely to d~onstration,he1datIkole- crops, are removed from N2.3 billron.' eqUlvalen result in broken grains of EkitI m EkitI State, was the soil. This massive !O # 1 0, mllhon, wa unequal sizes, while attended by 110 ncefarmers nutrient depletion wast<;d Dn unmtende mechamsed threshing from 16 local gov~mmenta decreases crop yields beneficlanes. produ~es umform grains, areas, AgrIcultural and quality, and is one Se~ondly, thes thus mcreasmg overall Development Programme of the major causes of Subs,d,es grossly d'Sto quality. Nova Technologies officers, members of the Rice low farmer incomes and the market, as thos (Nig) Company Ltd, a Farmers ASSOCIatIOn of reduced levels of dIstnbutors receivin, leading producer of NIgena~ and other public nutrition the subsidised fertilizer and prIvate-sector rIce G' t usually sell it on at agricultUIai machines has developed a lo~ally stakelIolders. invo~e';n~n~ ~ ~rt~li~er open-market prices.
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Fertilizer being applied by a farmer.
Rice farmers to_ benefit from low-cost rice thresher .--~
,-..-oNSUMPTION1if
~rice, a staple food in Nigeria, is estimated at 5.6 million metric tonnes per year, against annual domestic production of a little over 2 million metric tonnes. The remaining 3-plus million metric tonnes are imported, putting a huge drain on the country's foreign exchange reserves. Several factors adversely affect local production of rice, with lack of access to new technology for processing ranking high amongst them. In rice processing, threshing involves detaching
rice grains from the stalk either manually or mechanically. The system used for threshing detennines the quality of the grain and ultimately the price farmers receive for other produce. Nigerian rice farmers predominately practise manual threshing, which results in stones and other foreign materials being swept up with the grain. It is also labour intensive, taking 10-12 men three days to thresh 1 hectare of produce, at a cost of N10,500 (#42) to the farmer. Conversely, mechanised
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