Nigeria has world’s lowest agriculture yield : expert

The use of fertiliser and other agricultural input in Nigeria is low, resulting in the country having the world’s lowest yields, an agronomist and former top official at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Mr. Akin Fagbamiye, has said.

"Nigeria’s agro-input usage is even less than the African average, ranking behind Ghana, Ivory Coast and Gambia,’’ he said. Fagbamiye, the national president of the Agric-Input Dealers Association, said, “Agriculture cannot thrive where input usage is lacking. Strategies must be put in place to enhance agro-input delivery to farmers at all levels, mostly in remote areas.”

Fagbamiye said the nation’s agriculture was still in the hands of small-holder peasant farmers, noting that industrial and commercial farming were yet to find a footing in the country. He identified a poor extension service delivery system and lack of basic infrastructure for distribution as some some of the factors accounting for Nigeria's poor agro-input delivery system. Other factors, he noted, were changes in government policy, and research input and its funding.

Meanwhile, agriculture minister Adamu Bello said government promulgated the National Seed Decree in 1992 to improve the production and distribution of seeds. He said this was to encourage private sector participation in the agriculture sector, and regretted that only five private seed companies were operating in the country today. Bello said that the total certified seeds produced through the National Seed Company and private seed companies averaged only 5,000 metric tonnes annually.

source : The Tide