Don Harps On Organic Farming

An agriculturist, Dr
Allswell Dukwe, has called on farmers in the country to key into the process of organic farming to enable them preserve the environment.
Dukwe, who stated this while speaking to our correspondent in Port Harcourt, Monday, said the idea of organic farming was borne out of the idea that the health of plants, soil, livestock and people were interrelated.
According to him, farming based on working with natural systems rather than trying to control them was not only eco-friendly but also boost farm yield.
He said organic farming places much premium on originality by de-emphasising the use of synthetic fertilizer, pesticides, insecticides or fungicides.
He said farmers should rather resort to the use of compost, mainly low and chicken dung and droppings as well as decomposed wild plants left to mix with soil.
While acknowledging the low concentration of nutrients in natural manure, he said, where necessary, fertilizers should be added in little quantities according to specifications.
He emphasized the value people attach to natural food products, noting that people prefer face value rather than real benefits with the purchased products.
Dr Dukwe said the grains available were not genetically modified so that they may not appear as polished or as long as the “Basmati rice but healthwise, it is better than foreign rice.”
It should be noted, according to him, “that Nigeria is among the six countries in which the Ecological Organic Agriculture (EOA) initiative is being piloted in Africa.
EOA is being supported by the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC) through the National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda (NOGAMU).  This has culminated into the formation of Nigerian Organic Agriculture Network (NOAN) which has led to the establishment of the Ibadan Organic Farmers Market.
The establishment of the market is expected to stimulate devlepment of similar organic market outlets in the country.