Agriculture: High Yields Not An Accident

High productivity in agriculture either from agro-industrial units or peasant farmers is not an accident but fruits of a culmination of many factors. With the increasingly felt effects of climate change, uncertainty surrounds productivity. However, human factors relating to government and institutional actions as well as the behavioural patterns of peasants determine the sustainability of agricultural production. 
The first rains announcing the 2023 rainy session have been falling since the beginning of this month of March.  The rains are falling at the time most peasant farmers have already prepared their farms for planting.  Since the first drop, most peasant farmers have been hustling and bustling sowing seeds of all sorts of crops. This practice is almost endemic in many communities. In many cases, farmers cultivate vast pieces of land year in year out, plant at the same and during harvest they languish for their crops have not done well. In many cases, their neighbours who may not have cultivated vast pieces of land will have better yields and the logical conclusion in some rural communities is the fact those whose crops have done well have taken the yields of their seemingly unlucky ones through witchcraft.  The persistent poor harvest does not enable the victims stop for moment, draw lessons and start to copy good practices.
Productivity in economic terms concerns sustained production over a long time. For Cameroon to attain sustenance in productivity,   adequate means have to be provided to farmers to achieve the said objectives. Factors such as the availability of land which can better be addressed through enticing land reforms, the provision and acquisition of adaptable equipment and the availability of farm inputs at affordable prices and at the right time have to be adequately addressed.
Both for agro-industrial units and peasant farmers, the results of the abundant research have to leave the drawers and be implemented in the field. The planting period of the crops does not have to come by accident but must be carefully planned. Experts in meteorology, environmentalists and agricultural technicians should be availably active, each in his own domain, and use the appropriate media to educate the population on  the best types of crops for each zone, how to prepare the soil, the types of fertilizers to use, when and how to plant. Cameroon has several agro-ecological zones each with its specifications with regard to the types of crops, when and how they must be planted. Ignorance on the part of peasant farmers and adherence to obnoxious traditions have to be tactfully combatted.  The local population need to be trained and drilled on new techniques of farming and should be made to understand that they must adapt to innovations with regard to how to prepare their farms, new high-yielding seeds, the types of manure to use and how to conserve the harvests. Farmers have to move from the rudimentary ways of farming and adopt modern methods.
All the actors of the production chain starting from the pre-planting period must effectively play their roles. For example, the Benakuma Council in Menchum Division of the North West Region in February this year within the framework of the Presidential Plan for the Reconstruction and Development of the North West and South Regions distributed farm inputs and improved seeds to the local population ahead of the start of the planting session. Several organizations like the First Lady’s Chantal Biya’s humanitarian organisation the Circle of Friends of Cameroon (CERAC) every year distributes farm inputs to the local populations in almost every part of Cameroon.  What is more important in the gestures earlier mentioned is their timeliness as are done ahead of the planting seasons. Local, Regional Councils, Parliamentarians and other NGOs do intervene to help peasant farmers with farm inp...