SIFE, AKADEP Aid Rural Agriculture

This month, Ikpe Annang community received the blessings of the University of Uyo's Students In Free Enterprise (UNIUYO SIFE) in collaboration with Akwa Ibom Agricultural Development Programme (AKADEP) courtesy of Akwamfon Sustainable Agriculture and Community Education Initiative (ASACEI). It was a well attended seminar with men, women and the youth, farming Cooperative Society and Youth Association from the village and 5 surrounding villages in attendance. The theme of the seminar was Agriculture as a Business. Experts on crop and animal production from AKADEP were the resource persons who spoke at the seminar, while SIFE Academic Advisor moderated. The news is that for us that was the first time government came to our village for such a programme. The seminar was very revealing and rewarding to both ASACEI farm and the community at last. Farmers were taught how to profit withal thru good farm practices like timeliness of operations, use of improved varieties of stocks, combination of organic and inorganic manures to get the best result, type of crops to plant in tandem with market demand to maximize profit, and advantages of organic manures (OM) over inorganic fertilizers (IOF). According to the speaker, while IOF releases nutrients to the crops at once, OM does it gradually and also improves the soil structure with its lasting effect on the soil. On animal husbandry, farmers were introduced to keeping of grass gutter which we describe as bush meat, and other cash yielding animals, and how best to rear and make them environmentally friendly. For us in ASACEI business it was open research as what we would spend much money for and travel long distances to get were brought to our door step. For example, Akwamfon Sustainable Community Association (ASCA) was advised to register with AKADEP who would link ASACEI farm to major markets. We were also informed that there is soil lime to control soil acidity and how we can procure it. Other useful advice include, how to order for improved varieties and high yielding stocks, as well as advice on dry season farming of fluted pumpkins and vegetable crops generally scarce and always very costly in dry season. The SIFE AKADEP team was able to contend with the many brainstorming and thought provoking questions they fielded from the farmers. However they had to take some questions home with a promise that they would be handled by experts in areas other than theirs.
In his welcome address, the ASACEI Project Manager requested that an Extension Agent be posted by AKADEP to reside in the village to serve the community and that government should not only procure IOF and sell to the farmers at low prices but should make effort to advise farmers against indiscriminate use of chemicals whose side effect can kill the soil rather. In its place he demanded government to procure poultry droppings and sell to farmers to cushion the effect of IOF on the soil. We were surprised at the Officer's reply that there was an Extension Agent already posted to serve our community. Suprised because we have not seen such person. We were to be told who he was so that he be made to serve us. Apart from helping farmers in their farms, the Agents are to collect problems from farmers to AKADEP and bring solutions from it to farmers. SIFE requested interested farmers to register the types of crops and animals stocks they needed for it to procure improved varieties for them. For SIFE, it was time for action and no more preaching, hence, on procurement of stocks, they would bring back AKADEP to demonstrate to farmers how to plant crops and keep livestock of farmers' choice the best way. Is there any success story or have participants learnt any lesson from the seminar? For answers to these questions and more, don’t miss subsequent blogs.

Nursery Practice on Garden Egg and Pepper

Bed in the making

One of the cultural practices adopted by the farmer to get the best out of his greatest asset - the soil, - is planting operations. These are the farming activities related to the actual sowing of crops. Nursery practice is one of such activities. This measure is adopted where certain crops like garden egg and pepper seeds are not always planted directly in the field but has to be ‘incubated’ before being pricked to the field where it will produce and complete its life span.
We launched this year farming operations with the nursery practice to raise garden egg and pepper. In order to do this, site selection was first done. Fertile soil is always needed for this and was so selected. This is followed by pecking of beds and bed making. The soil on the floor of the bed is mixed with rich poultry droppings. Afterward, both the garden egg and pepper are broadcasted on the bed to intercrop. They are then covered with light soil. This is to prevent rodents from picking the seeds and facilitate germination. The planting depth is about 1cm and planting distance is uneven. Seed rate is also not definite. The day you sow the seeds is the day they emerge from the soil that is about 7 days. We sowed 0.2Kg seeds of Garden Egg and 0.1Kg of Pepper seeds on Tuesday, the 11th March 2008 and they emerge (germinate) on Tuesday, March the 18th 2008. The seedlings are watered as need arises. Poultry manure is also added if need be. Mulching is done just after sowing the seeds using palm fronts. This is followed by a shade, using the same palm fronts. This is done when the seedlings emerge.
When the seedlings are mature enough to withstand direct sunshine, the shade is removed.
The seedlings remain there until they are transplanted. We plan to transplant ours on the first week of May when enough rains shall have come. Transplanting the seedlings will be published in May. Watch out....

VINTAGE Cum HARVEST

Dry Season and light vegetation

Since soil is the greatest asset of the farmer, he adopts a number of measures to get the best out of it. These include pre-planting, planting and post-planting operations. As per certain crops, the three are running concurrently now that the first rain to mark the beginning of a new farming season is being expected.
Yam is being planted; cassava is being harvested while site selection and clearing of farmlands are being done at the same time. Thus vintage follows harvest and vice versa. In certain crops like oil palm, harvest is done all year round as it has no fixed season for it. By the end of the month we plan to start Nursery Practices to raise Garden Eggs and Pepper seedlings for transplanting when the rain comes. Site Selection has already been done. Meanwhile arrangement has been concluded to start clearing now that the bush is dry due to harmattan. Clearing is better in dry seasons, when the vegetation is light and the bush easily accessible.

It has been observed that Maize planted just after the first rain sells high due to high in demand at that time when very few farmers took the risk to plant just after the first rain. The crop performance and yield are also better because of availability of more plant nutrients, since there was not much leaching during the preceding dry season. Cassava also thrive better too if planted just after the first rain. But if after the first rain the dry season resumes, the cassava cuttings may fail to germinate while maize that might have managed to germinate would wither. This is why many farmers would not take the risk. At times if you don’t take the risk, you take the other risk of being overtaken by full swing rainy season, beginning from the first rain. So at first rain farmers are always in a dilemma. Some Christians would opine to the Scripture that says he who observes the weather would not plant. Even the Scripture encourages risk taking in order to succeed in farming enterprise.

Research and Renovation

Psychologically, man is the product of his heredity and environment. Hence a man in the technical society should be conscious of environmental friendliness. This may be far fetched without research and renovation. This is why ASACEI project cannot do without research in order to effect a change on the community and its ambience.
One of the outstanding problems facing farming in this part of the world is pest and disease infestation and infection. Women would sprinkle wood ash from the kitchen on affected crops in a bit to check this. We are going to exploit and revive this traditional method to see if we can find a good alternative to spraying of chemical insecticide with its attendant adverse effect on the environment.
Beetles, caterpillars and wasps, which now defied the chemical insecticides, attacked our Garden Eggs. Another serious pest that particularly hinders late planting of maize is termite. We are therefore appealing to other African countries to share with us any biological ways of controlling these pests. It is asserted that Vertiver grass can check termite attack. Be that as it may, it is feared that the grass can, on the other hand, constitute weed if planted with crops.
With the successes being recorded in our research so far, ASACEI Project is the more promising. Hitherto rural farmers did not see research as something to grasp but the success being recorded these days through research would spur many to research and good practice in Agriculture with resultant increase in yield to maximize profits. For instance, I have just discovered how fluted pumpkin that hitherto would bear at most two pods per stand can bear up to 5 pods. This is achieved through pollination by a farmer, who by hand picking, simply transfers the pollen grains on the anther to the stigma of the crop. This method was used to have the multiple fruiting shown in this blog. We are still experimenting to see if as many fruits as bud can blossom without falling off, leaving one survivor, as it used to be.
Since no one can fulfill his destiny alone, and whereas we’re only just beginning to appreciate Agric as a business and so are babes in the deal, we need to share and learn from the experience of others for us to grow from strength to strength.
Consequent upon this, we appeal to readers of this blog in and outside the Teach A Man To Fish family, who have all that it takes for us to solve our problems and remain in business, to share their technology, research and experience with us. We should appreciate such gesture.

Organic Manures Cum Composting

Compost walls under consruction

Organic manures are plants and animal residues added to the soil by the farmer to maintain soil fertility. In our locality we make three types of these. They are Compost, Farmyard or Animal and Green manures.
I got the students involved in making the compost manure. We need refuse, vegetable materials, animal manure, wood ash and top soil as compost materials. These are kept in layers in 4 compost stacks. The first layer is refuse or old compost, followed by vegetable materials which the students provide. Third layer is animal manure (Goat and poultry droppings). Then wood ash, followed by top soil in that order. These processes are repeated until the required height of 1.2 metres is reached, except that the first layer made of refuse is only made once and for all. The finishing layer is made up of dry leaves.

Stack walls are necessary to keep the material intact. Water is also sprinkled to the compost. The materials are let to rot in stacks for 3 or 4 weeks, after which the first turning is done. The second turning takes place after another 3 or 4 weeks. If the compost is not used immediately, it is covered with polythene to protect it from sun and rain.

Pits and stacks are the 2 methods of composting. We prefer the stack method. The wood ash and animal waste added to the compost is referred to as starter because they accelerate decomposition of the compost by introducing bacteria and other organisms that help in the decay of the materials. In order to test decomposition, a stick described as tester is pushed into the centre of the stack. After a few days the stick is pulled out and the end buried in the compost felt. When it is hot, it shows bacterial activities, indicating that decomposition is going on. If the end of the tester is not hot, it means no decomposition and the compost is rebuilt.

Merits of compost include nutrient supply to the soil, improving soil structure and water holding capacity. Others are reduction of erosion and leaching, cheap, food provision to the soil and prevention of extreme of pH in the top soil. Its out standing disadvantage is that it is difficult to make for large scale farming. The relative end product of organic matter decomposition of the manure added to the soil is humus which provides a good porosity and water holding capacity of the soil. Loamy soil is the result of this and it is the best for production of most crops.

I asked the students to bring wood ash, animal waste and vegetable materials from home to make the compost. On the other hand, top soil is obtained from the compost site. We made the compost on the 3^rd December 2007 and it is due for first turning on the 31^st December 2007. The second turning comes up on the 29^th January 2008, on a 4-weekly basis. Since we shall not be using the compost immediately, it would be preserved for the appropriate time to use.

More in pictures ....

Students composting in groups

Land Tenure System and Availability of Land

Land unavailability remains one problem facing agricultural practice in my community. This is occasioned by Land Tenure System practised in the area.
Land tenure is the system of land ownership by individual and community either for temporary or permanent use. In Nigeria, rights to use of land can be acquired through community, individual or Act of parliament. There is this Land Degree Act of 1978 saying that every land in Nigeria belongs to government. Nevertheless, individuals and communities still claim ownership over the land and so lease, rent or sell the land, while government give certificate of occupancy to land users, mostly in urban centres.
The various types of land tenure systems include Tenant at Government Will. Others are Community, Individual, Inheritance, Leasehold, Gift, Rent and Freehold tenure systems. All except Tenant at Government Will and Community Tenure System are being practised in my community.
For the ASACEI project we are, so far, able to acquire land by Leasehold and Renting.
In Leasehold system the lessee pays a refundable sum of money to the lessor (Land lord), to use the land until the lessor refunds the money to the lessee. This does not give room for land development and permanent cropping as the lessor can get back the land anytime he likes. Some lessors would even get it back just to frustrate your progress. In the case of Rent Tenure, you pay to use the land for only one planting season of annual crops. As in the case of Leasehold you cannot plan well or develop the land. Purchase or Freehold Tenure is the best option for our ASACEI project, but land is appreciating in Nigeria so much that to buy one Hectare of land you need up to thirty thousand US Dollars. For one to get one hectare of land at a stretch in my community is impossible due to land fragmentation as every farmland is an inheritance from past generations. Continuous fragmentation of land to share to the heirs of the dead is reducing the size of these plots of land to sizes too small for large scale farming.
These problems cannot throw us out of business, as we are going to concentrate on high yielding annual and biennial crops come next planting season using the fragmented land we leased or rented.
Planting of Pineapple has commenced. Many farmers prefer Pineapple production nowadays because most of our land that were not good for other crops are discovered to be good for Pineapple. Hence Pineapple suckers sell ten to twenty Naira each. We start with what we can afford to multiply to the budgeted number. Demand for Pineapple is expected to increase and profit maximised as a Cooperative Society in the village is exploring the possibility of introducing dried pineapple chips into the market. This is going to be entirely new to our local and national markets. Before now Pineapple was produced mainly for eating as fresh fruits.

Twins Bearing Pineapple

In times past planting of pineapple in our community was not seen as a business, but in recent years many farmers started to plant the crop for sale. In my community Pineapple is now being reckoned as one of the cash crops in Nigeria. ASACEI is warming up to join the race with a difference, perhaps.

Areas to research and exploit to stand out in Pineapple production are unfolding as business progresses. The picture above is self explanatory, but the technology behind it is inexplicable as it is purely a rare natural occurrence. Traditionally we are used to one fruit per Pineapple stand, until nature sprang this surprise of having a twins Pineapple fruits on a parent. My attention was drawn to this in his farm by our Production Manager who has been in the Pineapple business for sometime now. This calls for research! Who is going to bail the cat? Nature has just posed this challenge to us, and we wish to rise to the occasion, though we lack the necessary fallibilities to embark on such research as to know why and how in order to implement it in our project. We now know it could be so but are asking, “How can it be?” We throw this challenge open to Biologist, Agriculturists, and researchers, to come to our aid to harness this natural phenomenon to a scientific concept to be practised by man. For us it will be a good way of boosting production to maximize profit, which is the vision of our farming enterprise.

Another side attraction is the number of suckers on one of the fruits. Look closely and you will see that it is up to six suckers. If planted, would the suckers behave like their parent? We ought to find out. This suggests multiplication of suckers. Observe other suckers on the parent Pineapple. Having observed and noticed all this happening, if we can make them happen, we can control events in the business and economic environments, for our own good. If you can answer the “why and how” come the twins Pineapple fruits, please we need your assistance. We wish to move from either worshipping what is inexplicable or ignoring it, to researching and exploiting its potential, which pays off.

It could be recalled that through research, we have found out how to prompt Pineapple to fruit earlier and in uniform. We have negotiated for this technology from other farmers who got the idea before, as they cannot share the experience free of charge. After all, there is no free launch, they say.