Dear Editor,
A number of rice farmers in Region Two told me that they went to purchase their first dose of fertilizers at the GRDB bond at Aurora and were told that the fertilizers which used to be stored there had been removed to a miller’s bond just before the elections. These fertilizers were brought into this region through the Ministry of Agriculture for the farmers’ last crop, and were subsidized at $5000 per bag. The farmers are questioning the removal of the fertilizers and why they were given to the rice miller.
The farmers claimed that they will now have to buy their fertilizers from private businesses at $5,500 a bag since the first dose is required 18-21 days after sowing. Urea is one of the elements necessary for normal plant growth at this stage. Research data have shown that when commercial fertilizers are broadcast on the right days, it results in a significant economic advantage for the farmer. The farmers are calling on the Minister of Agriculture to see that an abundance of urea, TSP and NPK fertilizers are in store in this region at various locations.
31,500 acres of rice lands are under cultivation and every effort should be made to work out what strategy should be implemented to improve the rice industry. One rice miller still owed rice farmers millions of dollars for paddy payment, although he received a bail-out from the previous government. This miller is said to have been cultivating thousands of acres of rice on state lands for years. Farmers who had no lands in this region were promised this land; they applied and attended a land selection interview but never got it.
The new government should make sure suitable land tenure and related arrangements are established so that young farmers (and not landlords or middlemen) reap the full benefit of these state lands. Now that the Indian government has offered its assistance to the agriculture sector, they should bring an ITEC specialist for the rice industry so he can have an overview of the industry in relation to plant breeding, agronomy, product development, entomology and plant pathology.
Yours faithfully,
Mohamed Khan
