Bizman Urges Farmers To Form Co-Operatives

A produce buyer, Mr
Cletus Uchenna, from Afam in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State has called on farmers to form co-operatives to enable them sell out their crops in bulk to avoid waste.
Uchenna who spoke to The Tide in a telephone interview on  Sunday, said most rural farmers faced the risk of recording wastage of their crops especially seasonal crops like oranges, mangoes, corn (Maize), pear, paw-paw, plaintain and banana, among other.
He opined that if rural farmers in the state come together in form of co-operatives, it would help ensure the identification of bulk buyers which would save them the agony of transporting their goods from the rural areas to various markets in the urban and semi-urban areas.
According to him, experience has shown that any year that records a bumper harvest of perishable crops also records high loss by farmers in the rural areas.
Uchenna, who said he was into the business of exporting such farm produce said most times, farmers in the rural areas produce more than the rural population could buy off, hence their losses.
“In some years, it is uncommon to see various fruits and vegetables all over the place abandoned and going rotten because production has overwhelmed demand,” he said.
He further urged governments at all levels to come to the aid of such farmers with a view to setting up cottage industries to mop up the excess of such agricultural produce.
Explaining further, he said such intervention would not only increase the revenue base of the rural farmers but it would also create employment for the youths especially at the grassroots level.
He said apart from that, many rural people would also be interested in agricultural activities thereby making such communities self-reliant in food production and security.
Uchenna, who claimed to have been in the business for more than 15 years challenged local government authorities who were into the transport business to also channel funds toward the establishment of cottage industries in the agricultural sector where they have comperative advantage.
“Let them stop buying motorcycles and fleet of buses as the cost of maintenance was capital intensive on the long run,” he said.
Some of these vehicles according to him find their way into private hands at the end of the day to the detriment of such local governments.
In addition, he said government should endeavour to construct good roads at the local government areas across the state to make the movement of agric produce to the various markets stress free.