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Momodou
Denmark
11829 Posts |
 Posted - 11 Aug 2007 : 16:47:20
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FARMERS DEMAND FOR FERTIILIZER ON LOAN BASIS
By Ousman M.M Jallow
With the announcement over GRTS that a certain businessman has imported fertilizer into the country, a Foroyaa reporter was despatched to the farming community to see if farmers have benefited from the consignment.
Our reporter chooses to visit the Lower, Central and Upper Baddibus. He visited Kerewan where farmers told him that the problem is not lack of fertilizer but the money to purchase it. The Kerewan farmers said what they knew to be of help to them throughout the 1970s up to the year 2000 was that farmers were given fertilizer on loan basis. They said the Cooperative Union and ACP project used to give fertilizer on loan to farmers and when the trade season comes, farmers would in turn pay back the loan. Others said they purchased it at an exorbitant cost of D650 per bag.
A farmer in Kerr Pateh Koreh in Central Baddibu, one Alhagie Njie, said he was able to buy five (5) bags of fertilizer. He said fertilizer is very important to them, which he applies on his groundnut farm; that he normally have good harvest.
Two other farmers emphasized the need for farmers to be given fertilizer on loan basis.
One Fa-Burama Darboe, a businessman at Farafenni, said he purchased fertilizer early in June, but he got it from Senegal. He said he could not wait for The Gambian fertilizer to arrive because he was not sure if it was going to be available or not. He also said that the price he got it for is cheaper than the price in The Gambia.
Another farmer in Farafenni, Alh. Ebrima Sonko, explained that during their time, they were given fertilizer on loan basis by the Cooperative and GGC and that when they sold their nuts at the secco, they would pay back the loan.
At Minteh Kunda in Central Baddibu District, one Kebba Lamin Jammeh said he was able to buy four (4) bags of fertilizer only, but he complained that the groundnut he had sown did not germinate well and as a result he did not apply the fertilizer but instead sold it to others who needed it. Others simply said they did not buy fertilizer because they do not have money to do so.
At Yallal, I spoke to one Fa-Burama Darboe who said he could not purchase fertilizer because he had used the money he had to buy rice to feed his family. He, however, explained that fertilizer is very important to him, but as a poor farmer, he cannot afford to purchase it and leave his family to go hungry.
Most of the farmers I spoke to at Njawara, Panneh Wollof, Kerr Sulay and Sambou Taal etc., suggested that the government should create the enabling environment where farmers can get fertilizer through loan basis. They all agreed that if this is possible, it would help them to apply fertilizer on their farms thereby creating the possibility of increased yield.
Source: Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No. 93/2007, 10 - 12 August 2007
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