Improved seeds in focus as cotton planting begins

Cotton farmers in the country are praying for better return of farming activities. They are pinning their hopes on accessing improved seeds as planting begins. Daily Trust reports that accessing improved seeds and absence of a ready market have remained the major challenges facing cotton farmers. The Nigerian textile industry which makes use of the […]

Cotton farmers in the country are praying for better return of farming activities. They are pinning their hopes on accessing improved seeds as planting begins.

Daily Trust reports that accessing improved seeds and absence of a ready market have remained the major challenges facing cotton farmers.

The Nigerian textile industry which makes use of the produce as raw material has passed through difficult times. It used to be the largest employer of labour in the manufacturing sector, after the public sector, in the early 1990s, but the decline being witnessed in the sector today is attributed to the high operating cost resulting from poor energy supply, infrastructure decay and proliferation of the market with cheap and smuggled textiles. As a result, many companies have shut down, while some have relocated to other countries within the sub-region.

Findings by our agric editor, who has been monitoring the sector, reveals that as of today, there are only 25 functional textile companies compared to 192 in the 1990s. The current capacity utilisation is 30 per cent of installed capacity.This has led to the thriving of trade in imported (mostly smuggled) textiles, a lot of which are fake and counterfeit.

Experts believe that the starting point for the revival of the industry should be the provision of improved seeds to the farmers so that they can grow long fibre varieties for local use.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently flagged off the distribution of improved cotton seeds in Katsina State with assurance that more than 100,000 cotton farmers would benefit.

RMRDC intervenes

As part of effort to resuscitate the sector, the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) has released 30 tonnes of improved certified cotton seeds to all cotton farmers under the umbrella of the National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN).

All cotton farmers in the producing geo-political zones are to benefit from the seeds which were procured by the council from Dangote Ginneries in Katsina State.

Several cotton farmers witnessed the handover of the seeds in Gombe, Kaduna, Niger and Oyo states to reflect the producing zones.

In his message delivered at each zone, Abdullahi Waziri Tambuwal, the Chairman of RMRDC’s Governing Board, reminded the beneficiaries that farmers, ginners, textile firms, research institutions and government all had great roles to play in order to stop the quantum of importation of raw materials and products into the country for the nation to become self-sufficient and then become exporter of goods and services.

Tambuwal, whose message was delivered in each zone by a board member, said it was heart-warming to hear that the seeds presented last year gave yield of five tonnes per hectare, adding that if given optimum agronomic practices, it had higher potential than five tonnes per hectare.

Earlier, Prof. Hussaini Doko Ibrahim, the Director General of the RMRDC, assured that the council would continue to boost cotton production in the country so that the idle ginneries starved of cotton could come back to operation

“It is disheartening to know that out of the 54 ginneries available in Nigeria, only 22 are functioning, and at very low capacity utilisation. Ginning capacity of the existing ginneries is about 650,000 tonnes of seed cotton, but current production is less than 60,000 tonnes per annum, representing about 10 per cent capacity utilisation. This trend has a spirally limiting effect on the cotton value chain development locally, culminating in the folding up of several textile industries (83) between 1995 and date, while the few that are functioning (23) are performing at low capacity utilisation,’’ he said.

He added that apart from provision of raw materials for use in the sector, the council also supported Research and Development (R&D) in research institutes, mostly for the development of new and improved varieties of cotton, dyes, colourants and development of processing equipment and machinery.

‘’Part of the effort to promote development of long fibre varieties for use locally necessitated collaborative development of long fibre varieties with the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Zaria. Among the improved varieties developed are Samcot 11, 12 and 13 which were released in 2003. This exercise is continuing with proposed development of extra-long fibre cotton locally,’’ he said.

The DG listed some of the imperatives for the sustainable development of the sector to include patronage of made in Nigeria wears, Foreign Exchange  (FOREX) restrictions from CBN, concessions, improvement of the investment climate and fiscal regime, removal of tax on equipment, inputs and application of industry-wide tax holiday, among others.

 

Farmers hopeful

Cotton farmers are expressing optimism on the steps to revive the sector  by  the Federal Government, starting with provision of improved seed.

One of the farmers, Junaidu Unguwar Balarabe, said lack of improved seeds had been the bane of cotton production for many years.

“We have been struggling for improved cotton seeds for years to the extent that some of us have abandoned the production of the crop. We are happy with the recent development by the RMRDC and the CBN for the provision of improved seeds at a subsidised rate,” he said.

The Katsina State Secretary of Cotton Producers and Merchants Association (COPMA), Alh. Kamilu Sheikh Munnir, said the CBN-improved seeds in particular  would be distributed to farmers through the Anchor Borrower Programme (ABP) at N150 per kg.

“The bag of the new seeds is 40kg and it will be distributed to farmers who cultivate one to five hectares on loan through ABP. The aim is to revive its production from the grassroots,” he said.

He added that large scale farmers were also being taken care of by the association’s improved seeds being sold at N200 per kg.