How middlemen affect Agriculture

 Middlemen act as traders in offering their customers an assortment of products acquired from various sources. The middleman has an important function in the economy of the gap bridging activities in the market network. Historically, the middleman is an exporter, wholesaler, importer, retailer, ship owner, banker, insurer or a combination of all these functions.

A middleman plays the role of an intermediary in a distribution or transaction chain who facilitates interaction between the involved parties, in this case the farmers and the consumers, he is specialized in performing crucial activities involved in the purchase and sales of farm products in their flow from the producers (farmers or firms) to the ultimate buyers. He typically do not produce anything but possess extensive knowledge of the market thereby charging a commission of fee for his services.

His functions range from providing valuable information and feedback to producers about consumer behaviour, enable farmers to concentrate on the primary function of production by handling the ancillary functions of warehousing, distribution , marketing etc. he makes the farm froduce available to the consumers at the right place, time and quantity.

Despite these merits, middlemen have known to increase the prices for consumers and reduces selling prices for producers thereby lowering the farmers’ profit margin. Most times they engage in temporary arbitrage, leading to  the increase in food prices the more.

Things you need to know about Sesame seeds production

 

Sesame seed is known as one of the oldest oilseed crops and is well tolerated to drought-like condition (Raghav et al). It has one of the highest oil contents of any seeds with a rich, flavour and is commonly used in cuisines across the world.

It is an annual plant growing 50 – 100cm tall and high yielding crops thrive best on well-drained, fertile soils of medium texture and neutral pH. 

Based on colour, it is classified into white and brown varieties. The white grain (food grade) is used by bakeries for pastry garnishing and salad while the brown grain (oil grade) is used in the production of sesame oil.

According to Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Nigeria is rated among the top 

global producers and exporters of sesame with many years of stable production. The country is currently the 7th largest producer worldwide.

As at now, 90% of sesame production is by small-scale farmers with exports ranging between 140,000 to 180,000 tonnes/year. NEPC supports sesame trade from Nigeria by assisting in Exporters’ Directory, Exporter Certificate Verification portal, production map and international shows.

Nigeria is the largest producer of sesame seeds in Africa (proshare.ng) with about 580,00 tonnes produced in 2017. Sesame seeds present huge opportunities for Nigeria in terms of generating fiscal and export revenue and to take advantage of these opportunities and enhance competitiveness, Nigeria needs to focus on improving processing and yields.

Date from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that sesame was the most exported agricultural commodity in the 1st quarter of 2020 despite the COVID-19 outbreak that obstructed global trade. A total of ₦49 billion worth of the crop was exported to Japan, Turkey and Europe.

It is a good source of vegetable oil with no cholesterol making it the most demanded in the world. It can be used in pharmaceuticals, confectioneries, cosmetics and many industries for paints, soaps, lubricant and shampoos.

Sadly, it was learnt that the average yield per hectare of sesame in Nigeria is between 0.5 – 1.0 tonnes when compared to China with between 1.4 – 1.6 tonnes/ha. The gap is due to knowledge gap, poor crop management practices and poor processing procedures adopted by the small-scale farmers.

TOM AND JERRY ON THE FARM

 

Credit: vinagecko

                                                

When dealing with pests of stored items (feeds, farm produce, etc), a lot of ideas and methods comes to mind as loss to storage pests, especially rodents can sometimes be devastating. A poultry farmer in a farm settlement narrated how he was able to deal with rodents in his store. His ordeal was a very fascinated way of using the biological method – CAT. Let’s not forget that biological pest control is a technique of controlling pests by using other organisms. Cat is a natural enemy of rats and mice.

Credit: Thriftyfun

                                                

The farmer ruled out the idea of using poison. He discovered that the rodents usually contaminate the poultry feeds after ingesting the poison and this resulted in the death of his turkeys some years before he introduced the cat in which he. The technique he used was to partly feed the cat during the day so that it can hunt effectively at night.

This method actually has its own setback. Culturally, it is believed that if a cat feed on the leftover of rat/mouse or vice versa, it brings about some sort of connection between the two, and the cat cannot do anything to the rat. Interesting you think! So to avoid this, the farmer changes the cat periodically.

Credit:Animal Channel

                                            

Cat, of course, is the number one enemy of any rodent. The presence of the cat alone scare away the rodents. But if the rodent happens to be a big one and fight back, the cat might be injured. The method used by the farmer in this article was effective to him because he changed his cats periodically.

Or what do you think is a better biological method of controlling storage pests?

 

Ogun to get massive boost in agriculture via OGSTEP

On Tuesday the 11th of February, 2020, the WorldBank with it headquarter in Washington DC approved the Ogun State Economic Transformation Project (OGSTEP) along with five other projects in Nigeria.

Ogun state started the preparation of the project under the administration of Senator Ibikunle Amosun _{FCA CON} since 2017. Several changes had been made to the budget as well as the other documents (including the Project Implementation Manual) to make the project more efficient and effective. At onset, the project was formerly known as the Ogun State Agricultural Production and Industrialisation Program (OGAPIP) before it metamorphosized into OGSTEP towards the end of immediate past administration.

A whooping sum of $250million will be given as loan to Ogun State to support the State government’s efforts in increasing the involvement of the private sector in the State’s economy with focus on improving the business-enabling environment, solidifying agri-food value-chains and upgrading skills.

Ogun State Ministry of Agriculture is not the only agency to benefit from the project. Others aree Ogun State Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Ogun State Ministry of Urban and Physical Planning, the Ogun State Bureau of Lands, Ogun State Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency, the Ogun State Property and Investment Corporation, the Ogun State Housing Corporation and the Ogun State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

Series of sensitization visits had been made to communities in the three Senatorial districts of the state in 2018 and 2019. Communities and associations have shown interest by submitting their Expressions of Interest formally to the State Ministry of Agriculture.

Through proper management and effective monitoring, the State can boast of becoming the food basket of the State. Recently, Ogun State launched the Broiler Production project which aimed at youth empowerment and recorded a great success in its first phase. Also, the Anchor Borrowers Programme is on-going under the administration of Prince Dapo Abiodun _MFR

Ogun State Anchor Borrowers Programme

President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR) launched the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) on November 17, 2015. The programme is intended to create a linkage between anchor companies (involved in the processing) and small holder farmers (SHFs) of the required key agricultural commodities. The programme provides farm inputs in kind and cash (for farm labour) to small holder farmers to boost production of the selected commodities. It also stabilizes inputs supply to agro processors and address the country’s negative balance of payments on food. At harvest, the SHF supplies his/her produce to the Agro-processor (Anchor) who pays the cash equivalent to the farmer’s account (more information can be gotten from Central Bank of Nigeria website).

On Friday, the 6^th September, 2019, the Ogun State Anchor Borrowers Programme was officially launched by the Executive Governor of the State, Prince Dapo Abiodun _MFR. The event took place at the Cultural Centre Kuto, Abeokuta with many dignitaries in attendance. Participants were selected from the 20 Local Government Areas (LGA) across the State. Selections were made from the State recruitment portal, google form and manual registration at the State Ministry of Agriculture.

Value Chains to be considered include cassava, maize, rice, cotton, oil palm, fishery, poultry, piggery and cattle fattening. 40,000 participants are expected to be recruited during the lifespan of the project while the pilot phase will consist of 10,000 participants with equal representation from across the LGAs. It is in a ratio of 1ha to 1participant for crop production.

Verification/screening exercise commenced on 16^th October, 2019 and ran for two weeks at 4 points in each of the 20 LGAs. On Friday the 3^rd of January, 2020 a town hall meeting was held at the Tech Hub, Kobape, Abeokuta, organised for stakeholders to agree on fertilizer, cost of transportation, scaring of birds on rice farms and farmers’ equity. Also, how farmers will make profit and repay loan were also discussed among other issues.

Farmers’ Facts have however received report that land to be used by the participants would be cleared soon as meetings are being held with service providers.

Hopefully I believe, the programme will start very soon.

Catfish

Catfish scientifically known as Siluriformes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish (https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/catfish/). There are more than 3000 species of catfish that can be found on all continents except on the Antarctica. Catfish inhabits freshwater ecosystems such as rivers and streams but some species of catfish are adapted to the life in salt waters and caves. Catfish are one of the most farmed types of fish (their meat is consumed as delicacy around the world). The name catfish is derived from the feelers, or barbels, that extend from each side of the upper jaw of the fish and, in some species, from the lower jaw also, suggesting the whiskers of a cat. The dorsal and pectoral fins are often edged with sharp spines, in some cases poisonous, which are used in defense and can inflict severe wounds.
Catfish have distinctive characteristics with his slick, slightly flattened and elongated mustache similar mimiliki long, sticking out around the mouth. Catfish have no scales; their bodies are often naked. In some species, the mucus-covered skin is used in cutaneous respiration, where the fish breathes through its skin. In some catfish, the skin is covered in bony plates called scutes; some form of body armor appears in various ways within the order. Catfish are most easily recognized by their flattened broad heads and the long whisker-like barbels that protrude from the mouth of the catfish.
 Many people enjoy the flavor of catfish, but it offers a variety of health benefits as well. Including the nutritious fish in your diet helps you meet your protein needs and boosts your intake of vitamins and healthy fats and fatty acids (Nicki Wolf, 2017). Part of the health benefits of catfish consumption are:

1. Low in Calories and Fat 

2. Contains Healthy Fatty Acids

3. Provides Complete Protein

4. Source of Vitamin B-12

5. Low in Mercury

Others are: great for your heart, clearing the vessels, joint benefits, beneficial for eyes, essential nutrients, protect lungs, helps lose weight, fights depressions, good for skin health, good for Nervous system, Digestive health, Boost your brainpower, Good For The formation of bone and teeth.

Catfish of different sizes are available for sale at Farmers' Market, Asero, Abeokuta at affordable prices.