The Association of Organic Agriculture Practitioners of Nigeria (NOAN), has lamented low adoption of organic farming, despite the campaign and advocacy by promoters of organic agriculture to ensure that farmers key into the system of farming.
President of the Association, Dr. Jude Obi, while narrating the important of organic system of farming, disclosed that low adoption of organic farming stems from the fact that farmers are already used to conventional practice and other forms of crop production.
Organic or traditional farming is a system of agriculture, which avoids or largely excludes the use of synthetically compounded chemicals such as fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators, livestock feed additives and genetically modified organisms.
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The practice is widely considered to be a far more sustainable alternative in terms of food production, as it enhances biodiversity that results in better soil quality and reduce pollution from fertilizer or pesticide run-off.
Obi accused government for lack of requisite policies while pointing out that organic practice is more profitable than the conventional one, and that the only difference is that it is labor and knowledge intensive, explaining that any practice that is knowledge and labor intensive will be profitable.
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“The state will support other practices on input, equipment and advocacy, but will look the other way on organic farming campaign. The information about organic agriculture is spreading, but intensive advocacy is required and it is not yet available to the extent that change will happen as fast as expected.” Obi noted
The immediate past Public Relations Officer of the body, Mr. Taiwo Oduola, linked the discouraging attitude of farmers to the tedious nature of the farming system, adding that Organic agriculture has a lot of enemies, saying that the GMO producers, chemical and fertilizer producers are fighting organic agriculture underneath, because they put a lot of emolument on their own distribution and sales.
