AgrikMix News

Ghana overtakes Nigeria in yam exports

 

Tubers of yam

Ghana has overtaken Nigeria in yam exportation as the quality of the produce from Nigeria has dropped due to high dependent on traditional planting system, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture has said.

The institute’s Project Manager, Yam Improvement for Income and Food Security in West Africa, Dr. Nobert Maroya, said this in Ibadan during a meeting of the IITA’s scientists with top seed production companies from different parts of the country.

He, however, said that the project had developed high ratio propagation technologies such as vine cuttings, aeroponics and bioreactor to address the constraints of quality and multiplication in seed yam production.

Maroya told participants that for Nigeria to profit from the huge financial gain in yam exports, it must develop efficient seed production, distribution and quality assurance systems.

These, he stressed, were the steps taken by Japan and Ghana that placed them ahead of Nigeria among the yam exporting nations.

He said, “In Japan, beer and spirit are extracted from yam. Japan is now producing yam by using vine, which the farmers plant with machine. The way they are going, they will soon become the biggest producer of yam even though it originated from Nigeria and other parts of Africa.

“Ghana yam exporters have an association that determine quality and quantity of yam meant for export. Nigeria began the exportation of yam a long time ago when the product was being exported to Europe from Nasarawa State. At a point, the yam was rejected because of low quality.

“Many yam producers in Nigeria now want to go back to that era. But we need organisation. The IITA cannot help in exportation business. Ghana is well organised and they maintain the market. The farmers are getting their foreign currency; Nigeria can do the same.”

Maroya, however, said that the objective of the IITA was to help increase the quality of the produce, adding that there must be quality control in each stage of yam production.

The YIIFSWA coordinator said that yam production and foreign earnings from exportation would improve rapidly if the newly developed system was embraced by farmers.

Source: Punch Newspaper

Farmer Hails Delta Govt’s Policy On Sell Of Tractors

A commercial rice farmer in Delta, Mr Raymos Guanah, has lauded the state government's policy to sell tractors to farmers at 60% subsidised rates. Guanah told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Asaba on Sunday that the policy was a step in the right direction, but cautioned against its politicization. According to him, the politicisation of the policy can result in genuine farmers not benefitting from it.

He advised that the Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa-led administration should ensure that the “real farmers” and not “political party farmers” actually benefitted from the policy. He said government should effectively monitor the use of the equipment when purchased and distributed.

NAN reports that the policy is part of the state government’s programme on agriculture, aimed at ensuring food security and mass employment for the youths in the state.

According to him, if government keeps its promise to give out tractors to farmers’ cooperatives and big time farmers in the state, the state will be good for it. “But my fear is that the tractors may end up in the hands of political farmers. 

"Unfortunately, there were similar policies implemented by past administrations in the state and everything ended up in the hands of politicians who had no need for such equipment but sold them,” he said. Guanah said the state government should also ensure that farmers who would benefit from the administration’s agricultural loan scheme pay back such loans promptly. He also urged the state government to set targets for the real farmers on levels of production and number of employment opportunities to be created within a certain time frame. “So, government should give us the necessary support and set a target for us,’’ he said.

 He said that if the state government identified real farmers and implement the policy well, Delta would process and export agricultural products in the next three years. (NAN)

Source: http://leadership.ng/news