The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) delegation here has begun training in the methodology of working out the cost of agricultural production.
The activity is the first of a series of many to be held in Administrative Regions 2. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 10.
A release from IICA said that it was being done with support from the Sustainable Agriculture Development Programme in the Agriculture Sector Development Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture and funded by the Inter-American Development Bank.
The release said that in the agriculture sector, there has been some neglect on the calculating of agricultural economic productivity.
“The Sector consists of diversified groups of enterprises operated by rural and other farmers. These enterprises range from subsistence levels to commercial levels. Many farmers have done a good job running the logistical aspects of their farming operations and even extending to value-added operations. Some see their operations as just family agriculture producing for the household and may even see it as a hobby, while others see it as an investment. On the positive side, farmers have lots of experience and have been surviving, many of them on the small scale of operation quite reasonably. How-ever, when there are opportunities for them to increase their scale of operation there are many challenges. It is notable that some farmers are innovative and are adapting to the use of technology and mechanization on their farms on a daily basis in an effort to boost production and increase their scale of operation. The fact that they know how their equipment operates, or how to irrigate and drain their lands may be helpful, but the challenge of financial buoyance remains a challenge”, IICA said.
This is so evident, as many shake their heads or look away when someone brings up their cost of production, the release stated.
“Farmers, after all, even though passionate about farming are not necessarily masters of record keeping, accounting and financial records. The importance of being efficient and being competitive are even more important in a growing market where profitability is important”, IICA said.
Farmers having knowledge of their “Cost of Production” enables an essential pathway towards forming their individual marketing plans, while contributing to the efficient use of farm resources for sustainable production.
On Wednesday, the first training session commenced targeting Agricultural Extension Officers from agencies within the Ministry of Agriculture.
