10 COMMON MISTAKES FARMERS MAKE

In Nigeria, Farmers encounter several problems during cropping season or in production season of livestock animals and these have led to reduced yields and low return on investment gotten on the farm however, some of these problems are due to some mistakes that farmers made before they start farming or during the course of farming. Hence, Farmers mistakes are said to be Farmer’s errors that can lead to many problems or challenges on farm. Below are some common mistakes farmers make that affects their farms:

1.      Not having a clear goal:

Many farmers don’t have a clear cut goal on what they want to achieve at the end of the production season or the output they foresee at the end of cropping season; they just go into production without a goal and this is not good for a farmer that wants to have a profitable farm.

2.      Producing without a market:

Many farmers have formed the habit of going into production without doing any background check on the marketability of their farm produce. Most farmers do not even have any marketing strategy or plans on how to sell the produces from their farms when it is time to harvest; they just go into production thinking market will find it way to them and this is has in time being caused the low return farmers get on their farms because, this make them to be at the mercy of the buyers. However, a market research and setting of marketing plans and strategy would have helped farmers make most of their farms.

3.      Not collecting or having enough data on their farm before going into production:

The importance of having enough data at hand before farming starts cannot be overemphasized as to data can help give insightful information about the farm area that can help during the production season thereby helping farmers make prompt and effective decisions on the farm. But, most farmers don’t have any data at all and even those that do have them don’t have enough data that can be of help to their farms. For instance, data like weather report of the farm area, recent soil data, pest information and weed prevalent in that farm area can help a crop farmer make decisions on the best time of the year to plant, best crop suited to plant in that farm area, amount of fertilizer to apply and better pest and weed management strategy to adopt hence, this can help bring optimum or maximum yield from the farm.

4.      Not keeping record:

Many farmers fail or forget to keep adequate record of all the activities on their farms which can help them better value their farms and as well help minimize unnecessary cost they incurred during production season. This habit of not having a formal farm record has overtime prevents farmers from securing loans from agricultural banks or benefiting from government subsidies on farm inputs or sometimes, this can make government charge excess tax on farms beyond what the farmer can pay. However, adequate farm record will prevent all these problems and help farmers maximize the profit they get from their farms.

5.      Not getting farm inputs from trusted and certified retailer:

Inputs like fertilizers, seeds, herbicides, pesticides that farmers used on farm are sometimes not gotten from a trusted sellers and this makes it very easy for farmers to be supplied with fake inputs which can have telling effects on the performance and yield of crops.

6.      Using seeds or planting materials from previous cropping season harvest:

Research showed that planting of seeds from the previous harvest by farmers is responsible for most poor performance of crops resulting to low yields gotten from farms overtime. Many Farmers in Nigeria don’t see the need to planting of hybrid seeds or improved seeds that have better performance rate with high and quality yields, they are always of the mindsets of storing seeds to plant in the next cropping season; this can as well affect the revenue gotten from the crops as to farmer store part of the crops that they could have sold out to bring in more profit.    

7.      Improper use of chemicals:

Most farmers lack the knowledge of applying chemicals at a recommended and regulated amount to their crops and this eventually lead to underuse or overuse of chemicals on crops which have effect on the crop performance and yield; it affects significantly the output of the farm. Therefore, proper use of chemical on farm is required on the part of the farmer to ensure a healthy farm.

8.      Incorrect mindsets farmers have to farm mechanization:

Many farmers believed that the concept of mechanization means total ‘tractorization’ of all farming operations hence, they distant themselves from mechanization because, they see it as a very expensive process and this has reduced the reach a farmer can get to on his farm. However, far from it mechanization doesn’t actually means total tractorization of farm operations neither does it means full usage of farm machines rather it is the application of engineering principles and technologies to doing agricultural works thereby saving time, money and energy expended on farm and as well bringing forth good and bumper yields from farms.

9.      Not making adequate provision for risk management:

Risk is inevitable in Agriculture sometimes, farms maybe faced with series of problems like infestation by pests, diseases outbreaks or even weather problems and this most times have significant negative impacts on many farms owing to farmers not having set out plans on ways to better manage such risks that may occur during production period without suffering any tangible loss. The unavailability of risk management plan can sometimes lead to total loss on farm hence, it is very important for farmers to have a backup plans that can help take care of any risk if the need arises on farm.   

10.  Leaving problems from previous production period unsolved:

Problems not solved can pose more problems in future time. Most times, maybe due to the educational level of some farmers the problems they encountered during their production periods are left unattended to or unsolved before they go into the next production season and these problems have the tendency of reoccurring in the new season thereby affecting the farm over again hence, it is important for farmers to identify the problems faced in their previous production season and try as much as possible to provide feasible solutions to them before starting the new production season so that they will be better equipped with ways of preventing the reoccurrence of such problems.

These problems are not limited to the above, what mistakes do farmers around you make? tell us