Category: Agriculture

To promote diversification of the economy, many states have taken to farming. Akwa Ibom is into vegetable farming, growing tomotatoes and cucumber under its Green House Initiative to boost revenue generation. Joe Iniodu writes.

If the  Akwa Ibom Employment and Enterprise Scheme (AKEES ) opened the people’s eyes to the wealth around them, especially in agriculture, San Carlos, a Mexican outfit reputed for mechanised farming and operating in Calabar,  Abeokuta,  Enugu,  Port Harcourt and Uyo, has come to deepen the persuasion that planting some hitherto imported vegetables, such as  tomatoes, and cucumber is  a goldmine.

These vegetables are being grown under the Green House Initiative of Governor Udom Emmanuel in pursuit of the diversification of the economy.

The Green House which is adjacent to the Ibom International Airport gate is a beauty to behold.

Each of the houses draped in transparent enclosure has a landmass of one hectare with a farming model,   with promising high yield.  The Akwa Ibom State Government,  in partnership with the Mexican group, has allocated 10 hectares for the cultivation of these vegetables.

For now,  four hectares have been deployed while the remaining six are awaiting preparation and  cultivation. Of the four that have been deployed, one has been cultivated with tomatoes which are being harvested. Another is also  ready for tomatoes cultivation while one is deployed for cucumber.

There is yet another which is almost ready for fresh cultivation.  The production manager in charge of cultivation, Mr. Habbakuk Orhernnandec confirmed that the projection is to cultivate the 10 hectares this year.

The Green House model of cultivation is a cutting edge method with the inevitability of rich yield. It uses hydroponic system. Hydroponic method is the growing of plants in nutrient solutions with or without an inert medium as soil. Each of the Green Houses are crisscrossed with pvc hose which are buried in wrapped cellophanes that contain coconut fibre or soil. The hose convey water and the solutions to plants which roots are also buried in the cellophane sags.

The roots of the plants sprout from the wrapped cellophanes which has water to irrigate the plant and keep the condition of the place humid to combat the heat which the enclosure perennially generates.

Habbakuk said the coconut fibre is good for tomatoe as it helps in controlling the plant but pointed out that the challenge is that the fibre is imported into the country from Mexico as there is no technology to process the coconut byproduct into fibre. It is in lieu of such challenge that soil is also used.

From the yield witnessed on that day of harvest, if all the allocated hectares are duly cropped , the tomatoes needs of the state would be reasonably met. Tomatoes have about 90 days span from nursery to when they are actually planted to fruition and  harvesting. Harvesting may be carried out between two and three times a week. For one hectare , each harvest comes in tonnes giving  assurance of increased revenue to the farmer and others within the value chain. Perhaps some of the advantages associated with tomatoes cultivation is its short span to maturity;  its value as domestic and industrial necessity; its value as an income earning produce; its receptiveness in the market; its popularity as a produce; its well known health value and lastly, being a non-seasonal all year round produce. These factors make tomatoes cultivation an attractive engagement.

But the Production Manger, Mr Habbakuk in his interaction with yours truly submitted that while he admits that engaging in tomatoes cultivation is a goldmine,  the hiccups associated with the enterprise have hurdles to scale and many rivers to cross.

Of course even without probing, it is obvious that storage and preservation are still challenges that are yet to be surmounted.  Off takers and other buyers are therefore often required immediately after harvest to help in the evacuation of the produce to either final consumers or factories where paste are produced. For Mr Habbakuk,  the most disheartening challenge is access to fertiliser.

According to him, only three companies import the item into Nigeria, noting that the inadequacy has given room for a shortfall in supply of these important inputs which application would increase yield and revenue.

The production manager who is in- charge of cultivation reiterated that Nigeria is too vast for only three companies to monopolise the importation of such critical items.

Habbakuk and his colleagues lauded Governor Emmanuel for conceiving of the partnership and practically taking steps towards its realisation, maintaining that the partnership between San Carlos and the state government would record significant mileage in production and engagement.

It was a regalling sight to behold as women engaged as farm hands and who were on that day harvesting sang eulogies for Governor Emmanuel whom they said had put food on their table through the initiative.  They however charged him replicate the same initiative in other senatorial districts to boost the production  of the vegetables and broaden the tapestry of engagement for Akwa Ibom people.

The agricultural sector has been known worldwide to be one of the largest employers  of labour.  Its value chain also helps in widening participation.  In the case of the intending ten hectares,  the Green House at full capacity utilisation would engage a huge number of Akwa Ibom people. In the interim, about 74 workers, according to the General Manager, are engaged in construction, production and operations.

Yet, they are those who are not engaged directly, but provide ancillary services that are salient to the chain. The basket makers, transporters, owners of grinding machines and market women are also part of the chain.

Nigeria has been run as a monolithic economy for decades. The clamour for diversification also started decades ago and remained mere political rhetoric till recently.  The slump in the price of oil in the last three years and the attendant decline in accruable revenue has impacted adversely on the Nation’s long held habit of importation which depletes foreign exchange and puts  the economy on a low tide.

The reality has compelled the review of the nation’s agricultural policy and necessitated its choice as the diversification option. Interestingly,  states that have chosen this path are already reaping bountiful benefits.  Nasarawa and Anambra are states that have braced to the new challenge and taken up the gauntlet of midwifing a diversification.  They have stirred up some kind of agricultural revolution in their states. Akwa Ibom is unequivocally part of the revolution, but in a rather quiet and subdued tone. The people of the state must be grateful that the governor is not a spectator that is content with watching the revolution in other states.

He has made the state part of the revolution through vibrant agricultural policies,  programmes and partnership. The distribution of improved seedlings of some crops, coordinated access  to inputs like fertilizer,  the cocoa maintenance scheme, the coconut refining plant, the various rice farms springing up in the State, the cassava processing plant, the palm oil mills, the hatchery at Mbiaya Uruan and many other initiatives are part of the concerted effort of the Udom administration to rewrite the narrative of agro business in the State.

• Joe Iniodu is a public affairs analyst.