Get inputs on time, farmers advised

AS the start of the rainy season approaches, farmers have been advised to get their inputs ready so that they hit the ground running.

This advice comes from Bustian Richards, sales consultant for Agri-Gro Namibia, one of the leading suppliers of horticulture seed and agricultural chemicals in the country.

The company, situated in the Southern Industrial Area of Windhoek, employs about 11 people and has been in the agri-business for 23 years. It is the local agent of international input companies like Syngenta, UPL, Enza Zaden, Pioneer and Adama.

Agri-Gro supplies vegetable, maize and fodder seed, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and nematicides and fertilisers.

“There is going to be a lot of rain this year, looks like it. Farmers must get their maize and mahangu seed ready and as soon as the first 100 millimetres have fallen, they must plant in order to get the best yields,” he says.

Richards says fertiliser prices are going up every week and chemicals are in short supply all over the world because of Covid-disrupted shipping schedules and logistics, so farmers must plan to get these supplies on time.

With Namibia recording a 3,6% annual inflation rate for October 2021, up from 2,3% in October 2020, prices are likely to continue rising compounded by soaring fuel prices.

According to Farmers Weekly, prices of certain agricultural inputs increased by almost 50% over the past year in Namibia.

“The price of urea, for example had increased by 48% from N$6,80/kg in September 2020 to N$10,10/kg in September 2021 while phosphates increased by 45% from N$10,10/kg to N$14,60/kg during the same period,” said the magazine, quoting the Namibia Agricultural Union.

As a service to farmers, Richards said the Agri-Gro team conducts field visits to advise on what to grow, and what chemicals to use.

“Every two years we hold a chemical safety course for both commercial and communal farmers to ensure they know how to handle the chemicals safely,” he says.

Although most of the companys business comes from commercial farmers, Richards says they also gave communal farmers some attention to help them grow despite the many challenges these farmers face.

Richards says Agri-Gro tests seed over a four-season process to ensure they give farmers the most suitable seed.

“We run tests on seeds at Farm Starnberg owned by Friedel Blume between Grootfontein and Tsumeb and host farmers days to show them the seed.

“This season we tested 28 tomato varieties but only four made the grade and were put on the market.”

Richards says the companys strong point is giving farmers technical advice. While he mainly concentrates on horticulture, his colleague Francois Steyn advises farmers on maize and fodder issues.

“On average, the country produces about 40 tonnes of onions per hectare but this can be increased to 80 tonnes with a more technical approach.”

He says the biggest challenges Agri-Gro faces is supplying small-scale farmers in areas like Ipalela, Ruacana and Katima Mulilo, as well as Itaka in the Zambezi region with inputs because of distances involved and the large sizes of packages.

“We are in the process of negotiating with suppliers to change the packaging sizes and give us say a one-hectare pallet. We cannot repackage the inputs ourselves because that would be illegal,” he says.

Another challenge is servicing small-scale farmers in the north and north-east because the company does not have a branch there.

“We courier some orders for these farmers but this also pushes costs up. Plans are afoot to set up a branch at Rundu because logistics are a problem for a small-scale farmer to be viable,” he says.

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