Roles of Government in Agriculture

Roles of Government in Agriculture:

Government plays an important role in the development of agriculture. Every government has an annual budget and agriculture happens to be a major sector to which an annual financial allocation is given.

Using the nation Nigeria as a reference, the country once depended almost entirely on agriculture for her national revenue. During this period, the citizens of Nigeria lived like kings. Interestingly, it was reported that the Nigerian Naira (NGN) was more valuable than the American Dollar at that point in time. However, the reverse is the case (during the time of publishing this article).

It was the discovery of oil in an era called the 'oil boom' that brought about negligence of the agricultural sector by the Nigerian government; as all the focus were placed on oil.

As it stands now, the government of Nigeria must be proactive towards agriculture, education and technology because the era of oil is gradually coming to a decline with the emergence of electric and smart cars/automobiles.

Please read more on the internet of things here.

Below are the various ways through which the government can enhance agriculture within a state or country.

1. Provision of educational structures to farmers

As we all know, knowledge is key to everything that had been successfully achieved. In this light, the more education a farmer has, the better his quality and quantity of produce.

Unfortunately, majority of the farmers in developing nations are from the rural areas, most of which have got little or no education.

Please read on the consequences and solutions to illiteracy here.

The government should set up agricultural schools and institutes in these rural communities in order to increase the quality and quantity agriculture produce.

Once again, it is noteworthy to state that education is vital towards the development of any nation.

2. Provision of financial assistance

The government should provide financial assistance in the form of subsidies, loans and grants to farmers in order to boost agriculture in each state of the country.

Please read on the methods of payment through commercial banks here.

Most of the farmers in developing countries remain poor because they are neglected by the government; and thus lack the capital to increase their agricultural output. For this reason, majority of these farmers practice subsistence farming.

Subsistence farming is a type of farming where a farmer grows crop or rear animals for themselves and their families.

Farmers do not farm for financial returns in subsistence farming.

3. Provision of agro-chemicals

Agro-chemicals are substances or chemicals that are used for increasing agricultural yields and produce when applied to farmland.

Agro-chemicals include fertilizers, herbicides, drugs, fungicides, insecticides, vaccines and so on.

Please read on pest of agricultural importance here.

The government should provide agro-chemicals to farmers at a subsidized rate in an attempt to improve agriculture within the nation.

4. Provision of storage and processing facilities

Storage facilities help to prevent the wastage and spoilage of agriculture produce.

Lack of storage facilities will bring about financial loss to farmers since crops will be destroyed by insect pests.

Please read more on the agricultural pests here.

The government must therefore assist in providing storage facilities in each state of the country.

5. Provision of good roads and effective transportation network

Bad roads will cause accidents which could lead to loss of lives and properties. Also, some agricultural produce may become damaged and destroyed as a result of bad roads.

Please read on land mode of transportation here.

Also, a bad road network can elongate the journey of agricultural products from the state where they are produced to another state where they will be sold. To this end, a 24 hour journey might end up becoming 96 hours, thus resulting in the spoilage and wastage of agricultural produce.

6. Provision of tractors and other agricultural machineries

It is the government's responsible to provide agricultural machines like tractors, ploughs, harvesters and planters to the large scale farmers. These farm machines may be subsidized to farmers since they can be quite expensive to purchase.

Please read on agricultural tools and machines here.

Note: Farm machineries are very crucial for the cultivation of crops on large farmlands.

7. Provision of high quality agricultural materials

High quality seeds and animal species should be provided to farmers.

The availability of high quality seeds and animal species will bring about the following improvements in plants and animals:

• Higher agricultural yield.

• Resistance to pest and disease.

• Resistance to drought.

Please read on the methods of plant propagation here.

8. Proper quarantine measures

Government should provide an efficient quarantine measures to check and control the inflow of agricultural materials like seeds, animals and other agricultural products.

The goal of quarantine measures is to identify and prevent infected agricultural materials from entering into a country. In this regard, an adequate quarantine measure will prevent certain disease causing organisms (pathogens) from gaining entrance into a country.

You can read on immunization here.

9. Provision of research institutes

It is the responsibility of government to provide agricultural research institutes which will carry out studies and researches in regards to food and animal breeds. The goal is to improve the level of food and animal breeds in agriculture.

Some of the research institutes present in Nigeria include:

• IITA: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.
  IITA is located in Ibadan.
• CRIN: Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria.
  CRIN is located in Ibadan.
• NVRI: National Veterinary Research Institute.
  NVRI is located in Jos.
• NIOMAR: National Institute for Oceanography and Marine Research.
  NIOMAR is located in Lagos.
• NIFOR: Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research.
  NIFOR is located in Benin.

Please read on agricultural terms and meanings here.

10. Establishment of river basin authorities

It is the responsibility of government to establish river basin authorities in order to make water available to farmers especially during dry seasons. This process of constantly making water available to farmers for agricultural purposes is termed irrigation farming.

Irrigation may be defined as the supply of water to agricultural land or crops through various means and channels in order to enhance plants' growth and development.

You can read on soil erosion here.

11. Improved annual budget and allocation to agriculture

The government should set aside a reasonable percentage of the budget towards agriculture.

They should also see that the financial allocation to the agricultural ministry is judiciously utilized so that the nation, farmers and citizens benefit from the budgetary investment into the agricultural sector.

Please read on the functions of government here.

12. Reduction of corruption to its barest minimum

If the agencies responsible for all the aforementioned government roles in agriculture are corrupt, little or no progress will be seen in the agricultural sector.

The government should set up necessary institutions to punish corrupt officials according to the law.

You can read on the arms of government here.

Also, salaries should be paid to the various agricultural agencies when due.