FOROYAA Newspaper (Serrekunda)
Abdoulie G. Dibba
26 October 2009
Serrekunda — Farmers who spoke to this reporter in the North Bank and Central River Regions explained that though they have started harvesting their coos and groundnuts, they are not expecting a bumper harvest due to the lack of fertilizer this year.
The farmers asserted that even though there is good rainfall this year, the good rainfall could not give them a bumper harvest due to the infertility of the soil. They said what helps them regain the fertility of the soil is fertilizer which they could not obtain on time this year.
The farmers who spoke to this reporter in the two regions explained that the problems of affordability, availability and timelines of fertilizer have a negative impact on their productivity. They repeated their call on Government and non-government agencies to help them with timely availability and of fertilizer at affordable prices to boost agricultural production in the Gambia.
On marketing, the farmers indicated that during the old days of Gambia Produce Marketing Board (GPMB), the producer price for groundnuts used to be announced early. This, the farmers said, has been of great advantage to them as it provided them with the opportunity to compare the producer price with that of the middlepersons. They argued that failure to announce the producer price earlier makes them vulnerable to middlepersons, who may offer prices far below the official producer price.
The farmers called on government to announce the producer price for this year as well as to commence the trade season earlier to save them from the claws of the middlemen.
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