Apart from funding and access to land, another major challenge to farmers in sub-Saharan Africa is lack of access to modern agricultural implements such as tractor, bulldozer, among others.
But the Foundation for Partnership Initiative in the Niger Delta (PIND) in collaboration with the Edo State Co-operative Farmers Agency Limited (ESCFAL), in a bid to address the challenge, recently organised a workshop to expose farmers in Edo/Delta states to ease access to tractors to boost and encourage large-scale farming.
The workshop with the theme, “Enhancement of Agricultural Transformation Agenda through Agricultural Mechanisation Service Delivery” was held in Benin City, the Edo State capital, with Tractor Owners and Hiring Facilities Association of Nigeria (TOHFAN), Hello Tractor, Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) and Tractor Owners Operators Association of Nigeria (TOOAN).
Others at the meeting were tractor owners, tractor operators, booking agents, hiring agents and tractor mechanics.
Speaking at the workshop, Nabeel Adeyemi, programme coordinator, value chain appropriate technology support for the economic development of PIND, said the workshop was geared towards exposing farmers to have easy access to tractor services.
Adeyemi opined that if farmers could have easy access to tractors services on time during farming season they would improve on their productivity.
While noting that human labour has been a challenge in recent time, he said with little mechanisation and tractorisation it could reduce production cost significantly between 30 and 40 percent annually.
He also disclosed that access to tractor services was key to the modern agricultural activities in the country, especially now that investment in agriculture had been the major priority of government at all levels.
He added that the organisation attracted private sector in the provision of tractor services to farmers in the states instead of waiting for government services that were not available within their localities.
Adeyemi, who pointed out that the workshop was the first of its kind in the Niger Delta region, further disclosed that Edo State Co-operative Farmers Agency Limited had indicated its desire to partner TOHFAN for tractor services for its members.
He posited that the co-operative was targeting 2000 hectares in the anchors borrowers’ scheme, noting that they plan to get the service of tractors to cultivate 200 hectares of Soya bean and ginger farm in Ovia North-East Local Government Area of the state.
On his part, Nosa Amayo, president, Edo State Co-operative Farmers Agency Limited (ESCFAL), said the objectives of the programme was to expose farmers to the best method of land preparation for farming through mechanisation.
Amayo noted that the best method of farming was by bringing farmers closer to tractor owners to build a better and harmonious working relationship.
He also stated that the association tried to discourage the use of crude farming implements like hoe and cutlasses and embrace the use of tractors.
He said with the workshop it was obvious that smallholder farmers could have access to tractor in the rural areas, and not only for the large-scale farmers.
