This article is an expert review of best and modern agricultural practices drawn and summarised from various studies and experiences. It is about how smallholder farmers in Nigeria can take advantage of innovative solutions to boost agricultural input and output.
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Many farmers in Nigeria face the problem of growth, due to various challenges posed by either the Nigerian environment or the problems associated with agriculture, especially food and crops producers. For example, there are several challenges associated with crop destruction by pests, food preservation, transport and logistics, and so much more.
With these problems, many yield meagre outputs, which often leads to poverty for the farmer. However, with innovations, which is cheaper, compared to the cost of production caused by the Nigerian harsh economic policies, farmers can thrive as they earn more and become more productive. In this article, I am going to highlight four innovative solutions Nigerian farmers can adopt to boost productivity and growth.
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Adoption Of Alternative Energy
The role of energy in agriculture cannot be overstated. It is one of the life-wire of agriculture. From powering the farm facilities to preserving farm produce and powering implements, energy is a major factor in the agricultural sector. However, Nigeria’s epileptic power supply hampers the growth and development of the sector. Power failure accounts for over 40% of food wastage in Nigeria. Food such as meats and chickens are wasted within a short period, due to poor power supply. However, to navigate this problem, farmers must adopt cheaper alternative energy. There are various forms of alternative energy, apart from that which the Power Holdings provide.
They include Solar energy, Wind energy, Hydro energy, Tidal energy, Geothermal energy, Biomass energy, Biofuels. For Nigerian farmers, adopting both solar, wind, and biofuels might be cheaper options. Furthermore, there are several ways in which chicken manure can be used for the generation of energy or for deriving improved fuel. It can be treated in such processes as fermentation (digestion), esterification, pyrolysis, gasification, co-gasification, combustion and co-combustion. With available energy, food can be preserved, farming devices can be powered and so on.
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Adoption Of Early Warning Signs & Diagnosis Gadgets
Calamities such as cyclones and locusts invasion have contributed to over 60-80% of food destruction. This was a World Food Programme study done in Africa. Many crops are destroyed because these disasters are unforeseen. Studies have shown that the problems lie in the changing nature of the weather. Nevertheless, early detection can easily arm farmers to take precautionary measures.
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Furthermore, farmers can detect diseases in plants using AI technology. For example, the Plantix App turns your Android phone into a mobile crop doctor, with which you can accurately detect pests and diseases on crops within twinklings. Plantix serves as an explicit solution for crop production and management. The Plantix app covers 30 major crops and detects 400+ plant defects — just by taking a photo of a sick crop.
The app has recorded 95% success. Other features of the app include: Detect pests and diseases on crops and receiving recommended treatments, alerts the farmer of incoming diseases about to strike within the area of the plantation, answering agro-based questions with answers from 500+ community experts, educating the farmer on the best time to weed, spray and harvest through its Agri Weather Forecast features, and calculate fertilizer demands for your crop, based on the plot size. This app can be gotten on Google Play Store and iOS.
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Adoption Of New Transport & Logistics System
One of the biggest challenges Nigerian farmers face is that of transporting their produce from the farm to the marketplace. The situation of dilapidated roads continues to hamper the free flow of transporting farm produce to the market. In a bid to overcome this situation, farmers must employ the services of delivery and logistics companies who can best bear the risk of doing the tedious job of transportation. For example, Kobo360 is an agro delivery service that can help reduce the risk of transportation for farmers.
Another example of an agro-logistics service is Red Star Logistics. Also, farmers who are interested in large expanse farming and need large-scale equipment can get the services of Uber-like booking company, Hello Tractor, which provides farmers with tractors and other heavy machines.
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Adoption Of New Cheaper Accounting & Book-keeping Technology
One of the biggest problems of farmers is accountability in finance and stockings. Small to medium-sized independent farms need tools to properly monitor annual seed or livestock costs, pesticides, herbicides, labour and equipment costs, and transportation or silo storage costs. Larger independent or multi-site operations require the same information, but with significantly more details or built-in financial management tools, the amount of crops or livestock processed daily is enormous. Examples of accounting software of EasyFarm, TraxView, TransAction, etc.
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