Short Chain Markets and Cost of Intermediaries

Today I was interviewing an Aunt of mine who has been a Suva market vendor for the last two years and how is she is managing to sell produce at the market without having a farm to supply her daily. In Suva most ethnic Chinese vendors and some Indo-Fijians are farmers themselves and sell their produce from their farm, usually after doing wholesaling in the early hours of the morning from 4 am to 6.30am.

I was interested in her Gobi or English cabbage which she buys from trucks coming all the way from the Sigatoka Valley. This wholesalers are not all farmers and some are middle men who buy produce from farm gates at low prices and cart them to Suva. One can imagine the cost incurred in the cartage and its effect on the price of the produce. I will not elaborate on the price as yet.

Who will bear this cost? This is a good question which you can answer yourself. Not only we can speak of costs but rather also the freshness of the produce comes into question considering the distance it has traveled. Farmers in the Central division need to attend to this issue and try farming with volume and quality so that produce sold are much cheaper and fresher compared to those from the western side of Viti Levu. One can argue that western farmers have the capacity to produce in large volumes compared to us in the central.

This lies the challenge to identify why they have the competitive edge over us. Upon close attention, these western farmers generally farm on flat land and use machines for ploughing the land. In the central its hard to find a pair of bullocks in Waibau or Wailase as indigenous or the i-taukei are the substitute. Frankly speaking its a pity to see mostly i-Tauukei ploughing the land for a very low return. Well its better for them to be labors rather than being their own boss. I once heard that farm labors in these areas often compete daily on who ploughs the most chains because the more the merrier.

Back to our topic of discussion with the cost of intermediaries between the producers and the consumers, the ICT revolution must be capitalized to its maximum benefit. In Fiji its rare to find farmers like me on the internet and having our presence felt. Even though social media awareness and usage thrives in Fiji its use is unproductive. Meaning its only used for entertainment and socializing whereas in the world users have put them to good use. The use of social media in Agriculture can have a positive effect on the costs of intermediaries. Youths in Fiji should use Facebook not only for social purposes but rather a more productive way by promoting agriculture and other areas of interest which can bolster their future.

Suva market is by far the biggest market in Fiji and this is why farmers from around the country run to with their produce due to high turnover rate. Someone in Suva should have a head count of all that enter the market on a Saturday to know roughly the number of consumers and vendors who are trading. I might do this exercise with our farmers network one-day.

There is a future in agriculture and youths in the central need to give it a try, take the first step, till and plant the land. Put their energy to good use if they are not occupied. Also their needs to be alot of awareness program conducted by stakeholders to promote this industry to Youths in Fiji.

AgroNet Fiji has formulated a marketing strategy to counter this costs and minimize the price of produce which customers buy for. Not only that, we have also farmed organically to try and feed our customers to be, healthy foods free from synthetic chemicals which farmers are generally using. Our produce procural prior to being harvested, fresh ca!! Vacava That!! keep  informed via this blog.

Right Ingredients

Last week I tried some organic pesticide recipes for ants that where attacking my long bean. I resorted to using baking soda mix which is baking soda, cooking oil, soap. I was researching the web for other recipes but was comfortable with the baking soda as the ingredients are readily available.

 I was quick in preparing the insecticide and spayed them on the plants exactly where the ants were infesting. When applying the mixture though spaying the ants were disturbed and on inspection the next day found that its was effective. I was pretty happy with the result and started boasting it with my wife Mel. While I was talking over the mixture I realize that instead of using baking soda I had baking power. Could not stop laughing over this mistake.

In fact I was somewhat lucky as the plants were not affected by the incorrect ingredients which was applied. I was worried about the plant health but daily I have observed that growth has not been halted but will have to wait for the fruits to see if damage has been done, hopefully nothing of that sort happens.

Its is very important to note the ingredients used are correct as if not they might have a drastic effect on the plant.

Enemy of Farmers- ButterFly

One will be able to mention a range of enemies which you fight and conquer all the time, but some will be left unswayed if your attention in detail is not thorough. When we speak of enemies its those species, humans, disasters that invade your ground and destroying your health and wealth. So its not about war in the battlefield only but in your daily lives where you tactically try to control them and overcome the threat they pose.

Farmers face a lot of enemies that attack their plantations and they are insects and pests which thrive feeding on leaves or fruits. This week a came across one enemy which I will name it the 'CATPEST' a caterpillar which we farmers struggle daily to try and minimize its attack on our produce. We admire a butterfly when its flies by but what it does is ruinous.

This week while we where harvesting tomatoes from a members farm, concurrently I was inspecting the fruits to try and scout for any enemy activity on them and I found a few of this catpest working their way into the fruits and it was amazing how they managed that.

Below is a short video showing how the catpest is feeding inside a tomato fruit and the appearance of the tomatoes while they are inside doing their stuff. One thing to note is the fruit is looking nice and ripe but interesting to know why the fruit stays good looking all this time while the culprit is feasting on it. 

So when you plant you have to guard! Please do leave your comments on your views of this enemy of farmers!!

SaMaka!

IKERI.....

Farming Tools & Equipments

TOOLS
Tools used in farming are a very important part in daily farm activities. The common ones are the bush knife, fork, and spade. In rural communities of Fiji these are the basic tools which are commonly used for generations especially with Fijian Villages as other races use other tools like a hoe, rake, etc.

The choice of which tools to be used can significantly affect time consumed in all the phases of planting until the harvest. When primary cultivation occurs there is enormous efforts needed for tree uprooting in ploughing land.  Not only its time consuming but drains a lot of your energy especially if you are an organic farmer trying to minimize tillage. The picture on the left shows a vegetable plot ploughed using a hoe and it is significant to see that one cannot tell which tool was used.


From my experience  I found that using a spade on newly cleared land is inefficient and rather prefer a hoe instead. Well it all depends on what produce you what to plant. As for vegetables it is always ideal to use a hoe as the organic matter on the top soil is not tilted much and vegetable roots get maximum nutrients uptake.

As a little child growing up in a traditional I-taukei village tools which other races use are not popular with them ans when one uses them they are pestered upon. This act discourages users of such tools in their farms. It is only manly to use the basic tools said above rather than the use of foreign tools in this context. This is a fact here in Fiji where using of hoe and other tools apart from the basic ones seemed abnormal to say or not Fijian. This is sad as others races here in Fiji who use them excel in their farming and eventually succeed. If only this traditional mind set  is rooted then may be ethnic farmers might feel the ease in work load.

IMPLEMENTS

Not only tools are barriers but the plough system used like Bullocks greatly assist farmers in ploughing large areas of land especially for commercial farms. Not only are they cheap to operate but the soil tillage of land is much better than using a tractor. The cost of a pair of bullock would normally range from $2K and above but for a tractor its much expensive. Not only tractors are expensive they have an overhead cost that adds up the expenses in production, like maintenance and fuel pricing soaring regularly.

AgoNet is working on its organic model farm for training of youths  in the Central Division and the use of farm implements like bullocks will be included in the course to try and introduce farmers to other viable means of farming. Our filed man who trains bullocks (Naita) will be the trainer in the coming months as part of the course of study .

In fact in the other parts of the country, the Northern and the Western parts of Fiji, the use of bullocks is common due to the sugar cane farming influence introduced by the indentured labors from India. This is evident as our trainer is from the Western Division and have been using and training bullocks for the last 20 years. There is a lot of experience here.

Advice I give to farmers is try not to limit yourself using basic tools but try out others as it will surely make a difference in your farm.

'Ka makawa, sa rauta mada!'

ORGANIC Defined- Fiji Context

A few days ago  I called up a market master asking if I can join the market with my organic produce, to my amaze I was thrown with the question, "What is That". This is a fact as both vendors and consumers are ill informed on the subject.

In Fiji the word organic is pretty foreign as it is not a daily word used in conversations. This is sad and reveals the state of understanding and use of organic produce. I wonder how many citizens of this country Fiji do take time to think of about what produce they buy for their meals. 

DEFINITION
'Organic agriculture involves the principles of health, ecology, fairness and care to ensure we are producing food to satisfy our current and future needs'

AgroNet Fiji is committed to create awareness on the importance of having organic produce for our diets. Organic agriculture on the other end is thus not a common practice here in Fiji. Traditional farmers might claim that they practice it but maybe part of it is organic and its incomplete in the sense that compost making is not seriously practiced.

Normally when a youth in Fiji drops out of the education system they either remain in urban centers or return to their villages where the elders will direct them to farm the land. With great enthusiasm the youths put in an effort to farm but at times poor soil fertility drives them away and confidence is lost.

If only they undergo a training on organic agriculture then they will be in a better position to succeed. This is a challenge on AgroNet Fiji to fully create its model farm in Naitasiri so that youths will be able to be trained on organic agriculture. At the end of 2013 the model farm should be ready for training purposes for the Central Division.

One socio-economic problem faced here is glue sniffing and its getting worse as females are also indulging in this deadly practice. Upon research glue sniffing is common in war torn areas of the world and I wonder how it has been introduced to Fiji. Urban drift is also a problem as here in Fiji and with introduction of organic farming Youths who are currently idle will be more productive and contribute to food supply. When Youths are idle they will wonder and be a thorn in society, so with agriculture there is hope. They can feed themselves and also earn a living making agriculture their profession.

So it is not only growing more food, but also reducing rural-urban drift and have positive impacts on a number of socio-economic problems herein Fiji.

INNOVATIVE
To lure Youths into agriculture is another mammoth task but it depends on what approach we take. Fiji youths most of  all have Facebook accounts so they are active on the social media so that's good  to start with, at least they are in the thick of it.

Agricultural development depends on innovation. Innovation is a major source of improved productivity, competitiveness, and economic growth throughout advanced and emerging economies, and plays an important role in creating jobs, generating income, alleviating poverty, and driving social development. If farmers, agribusinesses, and even nations are to cope, compete, and thrive in the midst of changes in agriculture and economy, they must innovate continuously.

- The World Bank on Agriculture Innovation Systems (AIS)

I for sure believe that the use of social media and other we tools will be of great interest to the Youths of Fiji to engage in Organic Agriculture.

This initiative launched by AgroNet Fiji will see the awareness and practice of good farming techniques in the future and also market access to farmers. All we need is support from relevant stakeholders so that our vision can be manifested thus contribute to human development.