<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>More than 90% of the people of the Ndu municipality currently depend on agriculture for living.<br>Generally, the variation of soil types together with the climatic distinctions favour the cultivation<br>of a large variety of crops, ranging from low-altitude crops like oil palm and rice to high-altitude<br>crops like Irish potato. It must be noted here that soils gradually lose their fertility due to<br>over-exploitation and slash-and-burn agriculture. However, crops are cultivated for cash or<br>subsistence.<br>The common crops grown include tea, oil palm, coffee, rice, maize, beans, potato, yam, plantain,<br>banana, garden crops, and various fruits. Various agricultural production systems are<br>employed including fallowing, mixed cropping, mono-cropping, continuous cropping, and<br>plantation farming. An agro-industrial firm; Cameroon Tea Estate exists in the municipality<br>which is a tea plantation.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:heading {"level":3} -->
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Some food crops</h3>
<!-- /wp:heading -->

<!-- wp:table -->
<figure class="wp-block-table"><table class="has-fixed-layout"><tbody><tr><td>Crop </td><td>Scale (Ha)</td><td><br>Production (tons) <br></td><td>Remarks</td></tr><tr><td>Maize </td><td>10000</td><td>18500</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Beans </td><td>6500 </td><td>6000 </td><td>2 cropping seasons</td></tr><tr><td>Solanum potato </td><td>120 </td><td>520 </td><td>2 cropping seasons</td></tr><tr><td>Yam </td><td>5</td><td> 440</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Vegetable </td><td>30 </td><td>60</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Tomato </td><td>4 </td><td>32 </td><td>All year round</td></tr><tr><td>Rice </td><td>45</td><td> 90 </td><td>2 cropping season</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>
<!-- /wp:table -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>From the table, total crop production is generally on the increase. However, farmers could<br>produce more, but they continue to face production constraints. Some problems encountered by<br>farmers include:</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:list -->
<ul class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item -->
<li>The difficulty of evacuating farm produce from the hinterlands to market centers due to the</li>
<!-- /wp:list-item -->

<!-- wp:list-item -->
<li>absence of farm-to-market roads.</li>
<!-- /wp:list-item -->

<!-- wp:list-item -->
<li>The high cost of inputs necessary to step up production</li>
<!-- /wp:list-item -->

<!-- wp:list-item -->
<li>Poor soil fertility in some areas of the municipality</li>
<!-- /wp:list-item -->

<!-- wp:list-item -->
<li>The lack of storage facilities whenever there is high production and low sales</li>
<!-- /wp:list-item -->

<!-- wp:list-item -->
<li>The problem of pests and diseases</li>
<!-- /wp:list-item -->

<!-- wp:list-item -->
<li>The absence of financial institutions to grant loans for micro projects</li>
<!-- /wp:list-item -->

<!-- wp:list-item -->
<li>Insufficient agricultural field staff who work under deplorable conditions.</li>
<!-- /wp:list-item --></ul>
<!-- /wp:list -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p><br>As a result of the above problems, subsistence farming is predominant within the Ndu<br>municipality. Such farming is not market-orientated. Consequently, production per unit area is<br>low. When one considers the declining soil fertility, poor farm maintenance and the lack of<br>markets in the hinterlands, the problems can be daunting for the farmer. These problems are<br>exacerbated as farmers plant several crops on a single piece of land. Furthermore, they own<br>many pieces of farms in different locations, some as many as ten kilometers or more away from<br>each other. This involves the farmer wasting time walking between the farms to cultivate a few<br>crops.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:heading {"level":3} -->
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Main cash crops</h3>
<!-- /wp:heading -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p><br>The major cash crop produced in the municipality is coffee. Though the forces of demand and<br>supply are supposed to determine the price, this does not happen. This is because there are fewer<br>buyers than thousands of sellers, and there is price collusion by buyers. The result is too little<br>money offered for coffee. Every indication is that the buyers will continue to extort the farmers<br>since most of the farmers come from the hinterlands and lack storage facilities, roads and<br>vehicles to carry coffee back home. So, they are always going to be forced to sell their coffee at<br>giveaway prices. More so, the farmers are ignorant of the idea of creating a farmer’s union to<br>improve upon their bargaining power</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:table -->
<figure class="wp-block-table"><table class="has-fixed-layout"><tbody><tr><td>Crop <br><br><br></td><td>Scale (Ha) </td><td>Production (tons) </td><td>Remarks</td></tr><tr><td>Coffee </td><td>150 </td><td>130</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Plantain <br></td><td>40 </td><td>95</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Tea </td><td>675 </td><td>1650 </td><td>CTE+ Small holders</td></tr><tr><td>Oil palm </td><td></td><td></td><td>Done in the Mbaw pain by small holders.<br>Larger plantation are progressive being<br>created</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>
<!-- /wp:table -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Farmers are encouraged to produce in the following ways:<br></p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:list -->
<ul class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item -->
<li>The acquisition and planting of improved maize variety</li>
<!-- /wp:list-item -->

<!-- wp:list-item -->
<li>At the end of every year, the Council in collaboration with the Delegation of Agriculture,</li>
<!-- /wp:list-item -->

<!-- wp:list-item -->
<li>rewards hard-working farmers and stimulates the spirit of competitiveness among them</li>
<!-- /wp:list-item -->

<!-- wp:list-item -->
<li>The exposure of farming groups to technical recommendations on post-harvest loss</li>
<!-- /wp:list-item -->

<!-- wp:list-item -->
<li>reduction.</li>
<!-- /wp:list-item -->

<!-- wp:list-item -->
<li>Young farmer competitions and award of grants (as a yearly activity). In these competitions,</li>
<!-- /wp:list-item -->

<!-- wp:list-item -->
<li>young farmers are encouraged to invest in farming after receiving farm inputs.</li>
<!-- /wp:list-item --></ul>
<!-- /wp:list -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p><br>All the above-mentioned activities involve land preparation, seed selection, planting,<br>maintenance operation, harvesting, transportation, processing in some cases, storage, home<br>consumption and marketing.<br>The solution may be for the farmers to divert from their dependence on one crop or look for<br>other ways of using the coffee themselves, such as the introduction of industries that may need<br>coffee as its main raw material. They may also look for markets elsewhere or create a coffee<br>distribution cooperative.<br>If any of the above is to be done, the farmers’ dependence on existing local coffee species whose<br>production per unit area is lower than that of the improved coffee must be examined<br>appropriately. This means they must galvanise time, energy and money towards more<br>productive coffee seedlings</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->