Category: Agriculture

MANY farmers are facing hard times following a rise in the prices of feeds, it has been learnt.

Their incomes, sources said, have dropped following cash flow problems.

The Chief Executive of Talon Group, Dr. Lanre Talabi, said: “The heavy hike in feed bills is responsible for fall in incomes.”

According to him, input costs for livestock farms have risen, particularly for bought-in concentrate, forage feeds and fuel.

He said rising production costs and harsh weather conditions affected on grain harvest potential, leading to increases in grain and animal feed prices.

He said livestock farmers will have to pay higher prices for animal feed and high rainfall levels meaning that the volume of feed used on dairy and beef farms will increase.

Thinner profit margins have forced the farmers to downsize their planting acreage. With the wettest year on record, likely to drive down farm profit, there are fears of a drastic decline in farm income.

Weather-impactedoutput, coupled with increased input costs had hit the industry over the last year.Livestock producers have been among the hardest hit, with higher feed costs and an increased feed use eating into profit margins.

The Lagos Chapter Chairman, Poultry Association of Nigeria, Adedotin Agbojo, said the industry is facing uncertainty and is on the verge of collapse because of high cost of feeds, which has reduced returns on investment.

Because of the shortage of grains, by-products, oil cakes, prices of animal feeds have been on the rise necessitating an increase in the cost of animal feeds to a point where most farmers are not able to sustain their products.

Farmers, he said, are managing their chickens at a loss and as a result, many have already started to reduce numbers, especially in poultry. Poultry feeds by their quality and price, he said, are some of the the major factors in determining the cost of poultry products such as eggs, broilers and profitability of the poultry farm.

He added that the prices of major raw materials used to make the feed have gone up tremendously. Farmers, he noted, have had to absorb the increases without being able to increase the price of a crate of eggs or chicken.

He warned that if the trend persists most if not all poultry farms would have to reduce their operations or close shop.

Poultry feeds produced by commercial feed mills, he said, are handicapped on account of raw materials, which are transported from the north. He added that the increase in diesel cost by about 70 per cent has added to the problem.

Given the increased demand for Soya beans by China and other producing countries, there are indications that the trend may lead to a significant change in buying patterns and cause a tight supply probloem for local poultry producers.

The Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture has begun the registration of farmers in the 381 wards in the state with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

A Director in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Adegbola Olusi, said in Lagos the registration was being done through the Growth Enhancement Support (GES) scheme.

According to Olusi, 20 supervisors have been positioned in 20 local government areas in the state.

“We have one supervisor at each local government area and several enumerators in the ward to achieve the best results.

“I urge farmers to come out and register because in 2011, Lagos State was poorly represented and it was believed that there were farmers in Lagos State.”

He reiterated the ministry’s drive to empower farmers with information about market index, fertilisers and seedlings to boost the sector.

The Head of the Agriculture Department, Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area of the state, Mrs Adeyinka Solo, pledged the council’s support to the ministry during the period of the registration.

Solo said farmers in the area would register because they were willing to embrace new ideas that would increase their income.

Farmers were required to provide either their association’s identification card, national identity card or international passport and passport photographs.

A REVIEW of the land tenure system must promote food production,an expert, Dr Kola Adebayo, has said.

Adebayo, who is Deputy Director, Directorate of Grant Management, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUUNAB), said a large chunk of the land in Nigeria is with the government and few landlords and their land agents. He said sustainable farming development was often stymied by the power that they wielded.

Calling for land tenure review, the don said it will present an opportunity for the government to carry out a more holistic overview for the future of food production by removing tenancy matters from the land tenure equation.

He said tenancies provide just about the only entry into farming for new entrants, adding that new thinking and innovative ideas are required to expand entry routes. At present the odds are stacked against new entrants.

He stressed that agriculture needed constant investment, and that in turn required security of tenure. While some tenancies were still secure and heritable, that number was steadily falling, and as farms become vacant they are either being let on short-term tenancies to existing farmers who can offer high rents or are being taken back in hand.

According to him, the inevitable consequence of this is the trend towards ever larger agri-industrial operations at the expense of traditional family size farms and the consequent decline in the rural population and the downstream rural economy.

He said competition for rented farms is fierce and existing tenants will invariably outbid a new entrant. He said starter farms will provide an entry for the select few, but a way must be found to allow more fresh blood into the industry.

He said there are still too many areas where the fundamental flaws of the tenanted system create frustrations and dissatisfaction, particularly in terms of rent reviews, investment, succession and access to land.

Adebayo stressed the need to create a bridge between short term tenancies and a tenure system that offers lifetime security.

Poultry farmers in Plateau State have marked the first yearly poultry show tagged: ‘Poultry transformation on the Plateau’.

The Chairman, Plateau chapter of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Mr Julius Gusan, said the objective was to take poultry business to greater heights on the Plateau.

Gusan said March 19 was set aside by the United States Government for its poultry farmers to celebratethe National Poultry Day.

The association, he said, adopted the day to celebrate its annual poultry day in its quest to put the poultry industry in its rightful place as one of the foremost states in poultry business in the country.

‘’The poultry show is to serve as a platform for all stakeholders in the industry to interact and exchange ideas on how to positively move the industry forward.

‘’Poultry business in Nigeria has continued to play a major role to the growth of the nation’s economy, being one of the largest employers of labour in the agricultural sub-sector.’’

The chairman said the association would continue to ensure that all stakeholders, irrespective of their investment, were well protected to ensure sustenance, growth and profit.

‘’This covers the value chain from the grain and oil seed growers, feed millers, hatchery operators, drug and additive suppliers, veterinary services, poultry farmers, processors, marketers and to the consumers.

‘’Together, we will move the industry to greater heights. We will also sustain the cordial relationship established with the Plateau Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources for support in creating the needed awareness for egg and chicken consumption in the state.

‘’This will go a long way in stabilising poultry market in Plateau,’’ he said.

He called on the stakeholders and the government to continue to be active partners in educating the citizens of Plateau on egg consumption.

Prof. Longmas Sambo, the Director-General, Industrial Training Fund (ITF), reiterated the fund’s commitment to the sustainability of poultry business in the state.

Represented by Mr Simon Zamba, the ITF Deputy Director of Training, Sambo explained that the mission of the fund was to help train the farmers to attain best practices to meet international standard.

The Chairman of the Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association in Plateau, Dr Sati Ngulukun,urged farmers to seek advice from the council of experts in the industry for standard and quality assurance.

Ngulukun, who promised the association’s support for the industry, said his members were ready to render all kinds of services to assist the farmers.

NigeriaN farmers have been urged to key into certification schemes to improve the country’s foreign exchange forex earnings.

Chief Operating Officer at the Centre for Cocoa Development Initiative, Robo Adhuze, said certification creates standards against which cocoa farming can be measured.

Intense efforts to promote certification, he said, would give a competitive edge to cocoa from Nigeria, which is being displaced by exports from other countries.

Adhuze said certification programmes have helped farmers make good profits through increased yields and improved bean quality.

He said farmers across certified cooperatives receive sustainable cocoa premiums payments ,making them high earners in the export market.

Adhuze said premium payments recognise farmers for their efforts to increase yields and improve the quality of the beans by decreasing moisture and mold content, which helps to raise the quality of cocoa beans.

Through certification, he said, farmers benefitted from comprehensive training programmes via third party organisations andare checked by independent auditors.

According to him, certification gives farmers a better organisational structure within which to work and improve access to markets to help them build viable farms and increase their income. In turn, the buyers get a traceable, safe supply of quality and sustainably produced cocoa.

To this, he said there is effort to scale up the amount of certified cocoa available for export.

The challenge, Adhuze noted is that it is very expensive for farmers to acquire certification.

Because of the cost, he said the sector relies on foreign organisations to finance , training and support to the cocoa community to maintain and strengthen the sustainable cocoa supply chain.

He said the sector has partnered with certification organisations, which have developed advanced standards for organising, training and auditing farmers. As result, Adhuze said a number of farmers in Nigeria have been certified.

Adhuze said the farmers are trained on how to reduce their use of pesticides, curb soil erosion and better protect their water supplies. The practices boost their yields and income, and the certification scheme makes their cocoa more attractive to foreign buyers.

The impact on farmers ,he said is positive, with certified farmers seeing both higher yields and higher revenue from their cocoa crops compared with similar on-certified small-scale farmers, although thenon-certified group is closing the gap.

He said Ghana has been a leading producer of certified cocoa beans because the country retains full control on the marketing system. Adhuze said Ghana has earned a good reputation for cocoa quality and timely delivery within the industry.

Farmers in Enugu State have called on the government to establish demonstration farms in the three senatorial zones in the state to show farmers the right way to apply the just introduced liquid fertilisers.

The farmers made the call during a workshop organised by the Ministry of Agriculture in conjunction with Global West Company to introduce foliar blend micro-nutrient and micro mix liquid fertilisers.

The farmers noted that such farms would not only act as referral farms but authenticate the effectiveness and efficiency of such products.

Declaring open the workshop, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Prof. Martin Anikwe, noted that since agriculture was moving from subsistence to commercial, improved and fast growing inputs were required to boost production and increase income generation for the practitioners.

Anikwe re-stated the need for the farmers to register in the on-going exercise as it was the only way to procure cheap and improved input, tractors and other agro allied benefits through the growth enhancement scheme of the Federal Government.

He said Enugu State was targeting the registration of one million farmers during the exercise and urged the farmers to form cooperative societies to enable them to access agric loans and grants easily.

Introducing the product, the Distribution Manager of the firm, Mr Tunde Ajayi, said the product had 16 essential elements required by plants to grow well which the regular NPK did not have.

He said the liquid fertiliser would increase the quantity and quality of farm yields as well as sustain soil nutrients during and after harvest.

Ajayi explained that the product was not injurious to human health and one bottle would be sold to farmers at N2,500 under the growth enhancement scheme but sold in the open market at N7,000.

According to him, the product is all crop friendly except for fishery and animal husbandry.

Some of the farmers expressed their misgivings about the new product which they said was more technical than the normal fertilisers they were used to.

The participants were urged to educate their colleagues who were unable to attend the training.

A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Ebube Foundation, has praised Anambra State Governor Peter Obi’s administration for his investment in agriculture, especially the payment of the state’s counterpart funding, which has attracted investment in agriculture from the United States (US).

The foundation’s founder Mr John Nwosu said at a sensitisation seminar organised by the Foundation in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development that Obi’s policies had changed the face of agriculture.

He said the event was to educate the populace on the new Federal Government policy on the Growth Enhancement Support (GES) of the Federal Agriculture Ministry.

He said Obi’s investment in agriculture was outstanding and necessitated the American Government to include Anambra in the five states, the US government would be investing in agriculture this year.

The seminar organised for farmers, youths and other segments of the society had speakers from all segments of the agricultural sector commendation speaking on the best ways to empower the youths and farmers.

Ebube foundation, according to Nwosu, is over three years old and has unconditional investments on youths and women especially widows in educational scholarship, business, entrepreneurial development and empowerment as well as food and cash apostolate.

He announced that the event training was empower the beneficiaries on agro dealings and its benefits. He said youth empowerment goes beyond giving money without any proper training. He added that funds with adequate training makes the difference.

The foundation hemlsman pointed out that government alone could not do the empowerment hence his group is reaching out to assist.