Not less than 387, 000 metric tons of oranges are lost yearly in Nigeria due to poor transport means from farm to the markets and final points of consumption, the Admiral Environmental Care and the All farmers' Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has said.

The group said this in Abuja during a meeting with farmers on how to source for cheap vehicles where they adduce the challenge of transportation to the inability of farmers to make maximum gain from what they produce.

The Admiral Care of the group, Mr. Shedrach Madlion said Nigerian farmers are paying a huge price since the decay of the railway station in order to transport what they produce from the farm to the markets and this has necessitated the need for partnership to overcome this difficulty. He said admiral and AFAN has therefore entered a partnership with FOTON, Stallion Motors to sell cars to farmers to encourage farmer invest more in their farms ahead of 2013 because it is going to be a challenging year due to the recent floods.

He said: "Admiral and AFAN thought it fit that a farmer or group of farmers should own their own pick up vehicle and have evolved a programme call Pay Small Small (PSS) in partnership with FOTON, Stallion Motors where vehicles are sold at subsidized rate to AFAN affiliated farmer groups and payment spread through two years with selected banks.

"There is a big gap between aging farmers and young farmers because agriculture has been perceived as a profession of those who have failed in urban pursuit to retire home and take up."