Agricultural
development is facilitated by the provision of certain social, health and
educational facilities and services such as rural infrastructure (good road
network); regular water supply, electricity, health, recreational and
educational facilities for the people (farmers and families). When these are provided
for, the rural populace they become independent of the urban people and
facilities.
All
these are, however, accompanied by appropriate development programmes to
sustain the development process. It therefore implies that agricultural
development is not a revolutionary process. It is a planned process of change
which requires adequate planning.
Factors Responsible for Agricultural Development
Agricultural
development is a necessary condition for economic development in any nation,
particularly an agrarian economy; hence agriculture is one sector in which
Nigeria has a comparative advantage as it offers the greatest potential for
expanding the productive base of the economy and diversifying its sources of
foreign exchange through exports.
The
factors responsible for agricultural development are discussed below
1. Effective agricultural
planning: Agricultural planning is a conscious, sustained and
systematic attempt made by the government, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
or private sector to utilize the available agricultural resources of the
country to the benefit of farmers and the entire populace. Proper planning of
all activities within the agricultural sector is, therefore, imperative for
rapid development.
2. Agricultural inputs: The
main inputs used for agricultural production include agro-chemicals,
fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, fungicides etc., improved seeds and
seedlings, agricultural machinery (tractors, combine harvesters, planters,
riggers) etc. For improved agricultural production and agricultural
development, there is need for efficient distribution of these inputs,
especially to small scale farmers. The inputs need to be procured and supplied
timely and in adequate quantity to farmers, in view of the complementary nature
and seasonality of their application on the farm. This will enable the farmer
to benefit, fully, from the use of the inputs.
3. Financial resources: Capital is very essential for agricultural development, because a lot of infrastructure is needed. Besides, agricultural production requires the purchase of farm inputs- as mentioned above. Planning- in relation to manpower, research and staff emoluments require large capital outlay.
These are carried
out at macro-level. Capital is needed by farmers to break the vicious cycle
created by low productivity, low income and low savings. You will remember that
in the past, the family was the major source of agricultural labour.
In
recent times, as a result of increased educational opportunities and rapid
exodus of able-bodied agricultural labour to urban centers, there is great
strain on the little family labour on the farm. Consequently, there is greater
need for hired labour.
As
with the other sectors of the economy, the increased demand for labour has
resulted in rise in labour wages. To meet these, farmers need to have access to
credit facilities. Such credit can also be used to purchase inputs to achieve
increased productivity.
Thus, credit need to be made available at the time required by farmers and at reasonable interest rates. Adequate supervision of the use of the credit is, however, necessary to ensure that it is spent on productive activities only.
Some experts have argued that in order to achieve the prudent use of the
production credit facility, farmers should be given consumption credit in
addition to the agricultural production credit. This, as suggested, will assist
the farmers in meeting their consumption expenses during the period between
planting and harvesting or unfavorable weather conditions.
4. Manpower development: Manpower development involves training of all categories of agricultural personnel. These include agricultural officers, agricultural superintendents, technicians and technologists. Manpower development is vital and crucial for rapid development. It ensures effective, management of the various phases of agricultural development process.
Consequently, institutions such as universities, schools of agriculture and
associated training institutes like Agricultural Research and Management
Training Institute (ARMTI) are of paramount importance for the development of
high and middle level manpower.
5. Agricultural land resources: The total land resource of Nigeria is estimated to be about 98.3 million hectares. Out of this about 71.2 million hectares is arable land. However, it is estimated that about only 34.0 million hectares is under cultivation.
Thus, the cultivable land resources of Nigeria are grossly underutilized. The under-utilization of land is a function of some institutional constraints. The land tenure system in operation is responsible for the fragmentation of farmland holdings and the difficulties encountered by individuals who are interested in farming. For rapid agricultural development, land need be made available to farmers.
The
land tenure system should allow expansion of fields and provide high degree of
security to the cultivators. Equitable distribution of land permits as many
people as possible to undertake farming as a business venture with reduced constraint.
6. Irrigation: Irrigation facilities such as dams are,
particularly, essential in areas where there is insufficient rainfall. As an
alternative to rain, irrigation ensures adequate supply of water, which is an
important input for production of forage for livestock and other uses. This
reduces the effects of weather hazards on crop and animal production.
7. Efficient marketing
system for agricultural products: This is an important
pre-requisite that requires time for consumers and stabilizing farmer’s income.
Beside effective communication system, good roads are equally essential for
conveyance of farm inputs and outputs, to and from farms. All these factors
lead to increased output, income, and standard of living, thereby aiding
agricultural development. They also result in generation of employment
opportunity in the rural areas and reduction in rural-urban drift. They also
ensure availability of good quality food to meet the nutritional requirement of
the populace.
It
is important to note that attempts made to increase production need to be
accompanied with commensurate measure to improve the efficiency of the
marketing system; as it is fruitless to increase production which will later be
lost as a result of spoilage due to inefficient marketing system.
8. Government policy: In
view of the important role of agriculture in providing basic food requirement
for the people, government of many countries- through their agents directly or
indirectly, control agricultural activities to ensure rapid agricultural development.
Consequently,
policies are formulated while plans, programmes and projects are developed at
different times and levels to facilitate the development of the sector.
Some
government measures to facilitate agricultural development in Nigeria include
the following:
a.
Agricultural credit scheme was launched in 1978 and was aimed at achieving
rapid increase in the production of food stuffs. The scheme provided credit
facilities to farmers for increased production of crops and livestock.
b.
Establishment of Marketing Boards in 1997 which was to facilitate increased
production of export crops and stabilise famer’s income.
c.
Establishment of National Supply Company (NSC) which performed anti-inflation
role through massive importation of the so-called “essential commodities” (i.e.
milk, rice, vegetable oil etc.).
d.
Provision of subsidy for agricultural inputs such as fertilizers,
agro-chemicals, improved seeds and seedlings and drugs for livestock
production.
e.
Guarantee of minimum prices and income for food producers aimed at stabilizing
the income of farmers.
f.
Launching of Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) in 1976 and the Green Revolution
(GR) in 1979. OFN was short-lived due to the change of government in October
1979 and was replaced by Green Revolution by the new government.
Inefficient
management during the implementation stage and lack of continuity often
constitute the bane of these programmes. Thus, continuity and efficient
management of these programmes to attain the policy objectives are imperative
for agricultural development (and its sustenance).
i.
Institutional arrangements Agricultural related institutions such as extension
organisation, farm organisation, financial institutions, and farmers’
cooperative associations are essential for agricultural development. These
institutions are established, primarily, to give assistance of diverse nature
ranging from financial to technical assistance to farmer members. The
assistance is aimed at improving farmers’ techniques, overall production, income,
standard of living and general welfare. The institutions are either established
by the farmers themselves or through external agencies.
9. Technology: Technology does not, necessarily, imply
complete change to the use of heavy machineries. The use of mechanical devices
and applied science in response to changes in the total environment of the
farmers and users of agricultural output is relevant here.
Thus,
rapid development of agricultural sector requires improved technology. This
includes improvement of agricultural production technique, use of improved
simple farm tools, management techniques, storing, processing and
transportation of agricultural products. The importance of changing technology
is to enable the sector cope with the changes in the socio-economic
characteristics of the dynamic population.
Thus,
farmers are able to maximize their returns due to effective use of limited
resources. Besides, technology can only have significant impact on the sector
if the products are readily available and affordable. Availability of local
technology saves foreign exchange creates job opportunities within the sector,
increase farmers’ productivity, income and standard of living leading to rapid
development of the sector.
10. Research:
Research is an advanced stage of study undertaken to discover or establish
facts or principles. In agriculture, it involves finding solutions to farmer’s
problems through systematic experimental procedures.
There
are two types of research, namely:
i.
Basic research
ii.
Applied research
For
research to be meaningful, it must be relevant to the needs of farmers. Thus,
the farmers should participate fully in the identification of their
problems/felt needs from the planning stage of the research. This is attained
through close interaction between the farmers and the research team.
This
is referred to as "up steam" research. Findings of the research are
transmitted to farmers through extension officers.
11. Extension:
Service Extension service is defined as a voluntary out-of-school educational
arrangement created to increase the production capacity, and thus, the standard
of living of the rural and urban populace. It is either established by the
government or non-governmental organizations to disseminate useful information
relating to the discipline in focus, to the people concerned.
Specifically,
agricultural extension officers transmit research findings from research
institutes or universities to farmers and obtain feedback from farmers to the
researchers for further research, analysis and validation of facts.
Conclusion on Factors Responsible for Agricultural
Development
By
now you must have realized that the various factors responsible for
agricultural development include, financial resources, agricultural planning,
agricultural inputs, manpower development, and research- to mention a few.
These, in the long run, contribute to farmer’s income and increase in the
standard of living, thus leading to rapid development.
In
this article, you have studied the various factors responsible for agricultural
development. All these have contributed to the growth and development of
agriculture, which confirms that agricultural development is a necessary
condition for economic development of any nation, particularly an agrarian
economy.
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