Farming system is guided by many principles and these principles help the farmer and the concerned institution to work or operate within certain framework that allows farmers to produce as much crops and animals that can guarantee food security of the nation.
The farming system principles permit the collaboration of farmers, especially the small holders to grow more crops sustainably through effective market system, more collaborative research and committed knowledge sharing.
The principles ensure that only the right things are done. It is important to know that the farming system is not without challenges which may emanate from the concerns of input use, climate variation or market related deficiencies.
Principles of Farming System
There are different principles of farming systems advanced by different authors and this is not unconnected to the type of farming system being practiced.
In particular, A Report on Principles Farming First, A Global Coalition for Sustainable Agricultural Development enumerated the following as principles guiding farming system.
They include;
Principle to safeguard natural resources: This principle focuses on land and how it can be effectively used for maximum food productivity. It emphasizes land management and its improvement through the wide spread of adoption of sustainable practices of land use. This can be achieved through conservation of agriculture which can be used to prevent soil erosion and land degradation.
Principle to share knowledge: Knowledge is usually originated from a particular source, usually the research centres. It is of note that so much of the required knowledge to carry out improved farming system already existed.
The concern is that this knowledge has not really trickled down to the end users for its use and application. The concern now is how this knowledge could be shared or spread to the remote indigenous communities for them to use and apply to their farms for increased productivity.
They can be achieved by increasing the level of education of the people on crop and natural resources management.
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Principle of building local access and capacity: This principle involves the development of the farmer and improving their access to what inputs they need for their production. Such can be made possible through securing access to land and water resources, especially for women farmers.
Principle of enabled access to markets: The farmers after producing his/her crops and animals should be able to evacuate them to the market and selling the product at a price where him/herself and the buyer would be happy.
The farmer could be kept abreast with this principle of access market by improving small-holder farmers marketing skill through entrepreneurship training.
Principle of harvest protection: There is the need for the farmers to be informed of how their harvest could be protected from spoilage. For it has been observed that above 20 – 40 percent of farmers produce usually get spoilt due to lack of government support.
Principle to prioritize research imperatives: This is one principle that encourages more research into agriculture and agricultural activities. Such research needs to be intensified and continuous and also focus on local relevant crops, techniques of crops and their adaptation to climate change.
Principle of risk minimization: Agricultural businesses are often known to be highly prone to risks. This principle therefore emphasizes the need for farmers to minimize the risk of the farm to the most minimum level. This can be assured through ensuring all necessary agronomic and animal farm practices are not spared.
Principle of recycling of wastes and residues: This principle of recycling of wastes and residues takes into consideration that wastes from one farm’s enterprise could be used as an input in another enterprise of the same farm thereby reducing the cost of running or operating the farm.
Principle of integration of two or more enterprise: This is another principle that has to do a situation that ensures that an ideal farming system should ensure that two or more inter-related enterprises should be in place.
This will help to give room for one enterprise to service another, same labour could be used to operate them and sales and income volume could be boosted and assured throughout the year.
Principle of maximum productivity and profitability: Farming system by its nature of allowing two or more enterprises to be in operation and allowing waste from one unit to be a relevant input in a another unit, gives room for all-year-round production and maximum productivity of product to be in place and also ensuring maximum profitability from sales.
Principle of generation of employment: Due to the nature of farming system, many enterprises are usually found in establishing different products accompanied with several activities. This scenario opens avenue for people to come and be employed to work in the enterprises.
Challenges and Solutions of Farming Systems
Farming system poses a lot of challenges for farmers in our contemporary society of today. The challenges are in line with the type of farming enterprises being practiced by the farmer.
The Five Major Problems Facing Agriculture Commodity as advanced are;
Lack of Storage Facilities: A good fraction of our food produced by our farmers is not consumed immediately after production and the storage facilities are not there for use by the farmers. This scenario often results as losses to the farmer.
In a bid to revamp the problem, there is need for the government to assist farmers establish centres where agricultural products can be reliably stored and used when necessary. This will go a long way to encourage farmers with their production.
Lack of Modernization / Mechanization: It is of note that most of our farming activities are carried out in small-small fragments of land and as a result, the farming activities are carried out with crude implement and, storage of products are still inadequately done.
As a result of use of crude implements in the farming, only little area can be farmed by the farmers thereby resulting to low farm output. In addition, irrigation facilities is almost absent in the farmers farm and this makes farming to be carried out in the raining season with nothing to do in the dry season. Such situation poses a frustration to the farmers.
To ameliorate this problem, government should organize farmers into cooperatives and provide them with farm machines and irrigation facilities that they can use for their farming and storage of surplus products after production.
Lack of Information: Lack of information about agricultural production and practices is a major problem that affects our farmers to a very large extent. Farmers need to know what inputs and technologies that are available for use in the farm.
Farmers need to know how to select the right or correct seed variety to get optimum yield, best time to plant, best of farm practices to reduce crop lose and how to partner with the right off-takers to get the best price for their products. Having such knowledge would make them urge for its use.
As a way out of this problem farmers need to be open or educated on new technologies through extension education on how to improve their farming activities. The farmers will need to seek and share knowledge via training and seminar with their farming communities.
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Poor Infrastructural Facilities: The infrastructural facilities like good roads, schools, electricity, pipe borne water etc. in most communities are either conspicuously absent or in a dilapidating condition.
This situation discourages the ruralites from staying in the rural areas where there is abundant lands for agricultural practices. Poor infrastructure discourages potential local and foreign investors from investing in agriculture.
A reliable solution to these problems may involve the fixing of good roads, provision of pipe borne water and electricity among others in the rural areas. It is hoped that such a gesture would go a way to encourage the rural dwellers to remain in their local communities and practice what they perhaps know how to do best, farming.
Unavailability of Finance: This is a very serious constraint as most of our farmers are subsistence farmers who produce little or no surplus. As a result they are rated as poor without no money for expansion.
Meanwhile, money is needed for almost if not all agricultural activities that take place in the farm. This challenge makes it difficult for local farmers to expand their production capacity and end up remaining poor. Lack of capital also prevents potential farmers from venturing into farming business.
In overcoming this problem, some kind of programmes that could help provide finance to the farmers should be provided by the government. This will help to overcome this challenge in where the farmer is concerned.
Poor Research and Record Keeping: There is unavailability or adulteration of farm records in the farmers‟ farm. Planning and researching with such records often provides us with poor results that usually take the farmer and the system nowhere.
There is a need for our farms and our farmers to keep proper records that would enable the farmers and research centres plan well for our agricultural system for a better tomorrow.
In summary, farming system is often guided by some principles. These principles vary from farm to farm as it is known to be guided by the type of farming enterprises that make up the entire farm.
However, these principles help to assure maximum productivity of the farm and the income realized from farming operations. Some of the principles are principle to safeguard natural resources, principle to share knowledge, principle of building local access and capacity, etc.
Challenges plaguing the farmer and the farming system was looked into. On a general note, it was observed and noted that farm challenges only but reduce the farmers‟ farm expectation in terms of farm output and income generation. Solutions to be problems were also preferred. In line with each mentioned problem.
This article studied the principles guiding farmers and farming systems. The principles are different and are in line with the kind of enterprise set up and in operation in the farmers farm.
Challenges faced by farmers in their different farms and these problems are in line with the type of enterprise established or operated by the farmer. Solutions to the challenges were also advanced.
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