Beaf:

You are so wrong! We have a banana and plantain harvester here; http://afrosciencecommunity.com/Invention/Page2
. . .And it is 100% FREE!

If Nigerians are serious, they would take a good look at what is there, produce the damn machines and increase banana and plantain crop yield exponecially. The plan is there, free for anybody to look at and run with.

How does that increase yield exponentially? It is just a harvester, from what I see? Labor is cheap anyway in Nigeria, how does that help? What I'd want it something that increases the size of my bananas, for example. Or makes them require less water/nutrients/etc.

Nigerian rogue govt must ve taken some dubious loan from IMFor some other oyinbo dragons and agree for dem to flood our market with cheap and highly subsidized agricultural produce.They are main to be cheap but b-cos nigerians are yamheads,they pay more.

DapoBear:

How does that increase yield exponentially? It is just a harvester, from what I see? Labor is cheap anyway in Nigeria, how does that help? What I'd want it something that increases the size of my bananas, for example. Or makes them require less water/nutrients/etc.

Hydroponics!!!!!
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroponics
*Using simple english wiki to save ur time*

DapoBear:

How does that increase yield exponentially? It is just a harvester, from what I see? Labor is cheap anyway in Nigeria, how does that help? What I'd want it something that increases the size of my bananas, for example. Or makes them require less water/nutrients/etc.

My bad for answering poorly, I'm just rushing through NL at the mo. What I should have said was, the invention will decrease the manpower and costs.

Tonnes and tonnes of those cheap bananas are dumped in land fields everyday in UK,no sane person wants them.

MShittu:

Hydroponics!!!!!
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroponics
*Using simple english wiki to save your time*

Hydroponics increases yield?

Kobojunkie:

Hydroponics increases yield?

Apparently.
This site http://www.androidpubs.com/Chap02.htm states that there's a company, the Whittaker corporation, that reported a 100% increase in their cabbage yeilds as a result of a switch from soil farming to hydroponics.
Kinda interesting, right?

DapoBear:

Never fear, we shall never import marijuana into Nigeria when we can source it from Ekiti

Ekiti marijuana has 20% potency and it's considered as grade 6 in the world's marijuana stock exchange. If Ekiti people should stop doing the doodoo in their bush, their marijuana leaves will be fresh and juicy. Who wants to smoke poo?

WOW . . . . I mean hydroponics is itself not new but the claim, that is definitely a new one. It is likely their is more to the setup than plain old hydroponics

MShittu:

Hydroponics!!!!!
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroponics
*Using simple english wiki to save your time*

Pretty fascinating. Seems actually perfect for farming in the north.

Kobojunkie:

WOW . . . . I mean hydroponics is itself not new but the claim, that is definitely a new one. It is likely their is more to the setup than plain old hydroponics

Yeah. the site claims that hydroponics allows them to grow plants closer to each other and in stacks, meaning that more plants can be grown on lesser space.
Kinda clever.

DapoBear:

Pretty fascinating. Seems actually perfect for farming in the north.

That's what I thought!

Aloy+Emeka:

Ekiti marijuana has 20% potency and it's considered as grade 6 in the world's marijuana stock exchange. If Ekiti people should stop doing the doodoo in their bush, their marijuana leaves will be fresh and juicy. Who wants to smoke poo?

Is the quality of our marijuana really that low? Hrm, that is quite unfortunate. Though I suppose we make it up with volume.

DapoBear:

How does that increase yield exponentially? It is just a harvester, from what I see? Labor is cheap anyway in Nigeria, how does that help? What I'd want it something that increases the size of my bananas, for example. Or makes them require less water/nutrients/etc.

Nigeria is not suffering from the shortage of bananas or plantain. What we are suffering from is inferiority complex. If the organic local ones go for N70 and the imported ones go for N200, that means there is no shortage there, rather, they are importing luxury for those who cares. I want you to note this now; Many people in Aba will start manufacturing empty cartons with banana stickers and in 3 months time, they will start packaging the N70 banana at the price of N200. Packaging is the problem here.

Togo is in the ECOWAS group of nations, they are legally allowed to bring in their wares to Nigeria under d free movement of goods & services charter enshrined in the constitution of ECOWAS nations.  That said,  I don't think Cameroon is entitled to bring theirs in thus. One of the reasons proponents of free trade amongst regional blocs give is d advantage it presents to d end users & consumers, they would invariably get cheap goods from intense competition amongst member nations,  all Nigeria has to do is mass produce d same goods and flood d Market therby killing any competition from any neigbouring states.

I am sure some smart arse would be thinking along dat line already, there is money to be made for those with d swagger to make a fast buck wen d opportunity presents herself.

Aloy+Emeka:

Nigeria is not suffering from the shortage of bananas or plantain. What we are suffering from is inferiority complex. If the organic local ones go for N70 and the imported ones go for N200, that means there is no shortage there, rather, they are importing luxury for those who cares. I want you to note this now; Many people in Aba will start manufacturing empty cartons with banana stickers and in 3 months time, they will start packaging the N70 banana at the price of N200. Packaging is the problem here.

I'm a bit confused. Is the carton manufacturing a good thing or not?

DapoBear:

Is the quality of our marijuana really that low? Hrm, that is quite unfortunate. Though I suppose we make it up with volume.

Tell Ileke idi and Bk.babe to stop poisoning Ekiti farm lands with their smelly doo doo. The quality of that Ekiti marijuana specie will surely improve if they allow fertilizers take control of the soil instead of their doodoo. Hydroponics is not the same as shitoponics.

MShittu:

Yeah. the site claims that hydroponics allows them to grow plants closer to each other and in stacks, meaning that more plants can be grown on lesser space.
Kinda clever.That's what I thought!

But that is usually what is done when plants are grown in green houses. I am not sure in that case hydroponics increases yield as there are cases where the same is practiced out in the field.

Honestly, I don't believe we understand the problem here. The low yield problem in agriculture cannot be solved by putting in more plants per square area. It is more than that. I believe that is why scientists and companies started investing heavily into genetically engineering better yielding crops in the first place. Hydroponics, harvesters etc cannot solve the yield problem.

Aloy+Emeka:

Nigeria is not suffering from the shortage of bananas or plantain. What we are suffering from is inferiority complex. If the organic local ones go for N70 and the imported ones go for N200, that means there is no shortage there, rather, they are importing luxury for those who cares. I want you to note this now; Many people in Aba will start manufacturing empty cartons with banana stickers and in 3 months time, they will start packaging the N70 banana at the price of N200. Packaging is the problem here.

Think a bit more about what you have above for a minute to understand how it does not make sense, even in the Nigerian context.

Kobojunkie:

But that is usually what is done when plants are grown in green houses. I am not sure in that case hydroponics increases yield as there are cases where the same is practiced out in the field.

Honestly, I don't believe we understand the problem here. The low yield problem in agriculture cannot be solved by putting in more plants per square area. It is more than that. I believe that is why scientists and companies started investing heavily into genetically engineering better yielding crops in the first place. Hydroponics, harvesters etc cannot solve the yield problem.

That holds a lot of truth, but you have to admit, sometimes the most obvious solutions are the best ones, and maybe this is just an example of such a solution.
Maybe.

Kobojunkie: The hydroponics seems very relevant for the North. Consider this paragraph from the Wikipedia article:

The largest commercial hydroponics facility in the world is Eurofresh Farms in Willcox, Arizona, which sold 200 million kilograms of tomatoes in 2008.[13] Eurofresh has 318 hectares under glass and represents about a third of the commercial hydroponic greenhouse area in the U.S.[14] Eurofresh does not consider its tomatoes organic, but they are pesticide-free. They are grown in rockwool using the run to waste technique

Arizona, as you know, is mostly desert. So where do they get the water from, to grow so many tomatoes? Well:

Hydroponics also saves water; it uses as little as 1⁄20 the amount as a regular farm to produce the same amount of food. The water table can be impacted by the water use and run-off of chemicals from farms, but hydroponics may minimize impact as well as having the advantage that water use and water returns are easier to measure. This can save the farmer money by allowing reduced water use and the ability to measure consequences to the land around a farm.

That to me is quite impressive.

Most d mass produced bananas originates from s-america and d carribean financed by western interest not togo.

MShittu:

That holds a lot of truth, but you have to admit, sometimes the most obvious solutions are the best ones, and maybe this is just an example of such a solution.
Maybe.

Again, Hydroponics is not new . . . it is hundreds of years in age, and is currently employed in green houses across Nigeria. However, it does not lead to increase yield in all cases. I am not certain what mix this particular country uses but to measure yield you have to consider how much you plant vs how much you actually harvested.  

I would consider hydroponics a solution to maybe land scarcity issue or something of that sort but solution to plant yield problem, nah!

Kobojunkie:

Again, Hydroponics is not new . . . it is hundreds of years in age, and is currently employed in green houses across Nigeria. However, it does not lead to increase yield in all cases. I am not certain what mix this particular country uses but to measure yield you have to consider how much you plant vs how much you actually harvested.  

I would consider hydroponics a solution to maybe land scarcity issue or something of that sort but solution to plant yield problem, nah!

Well then, I agree. But you do have to agree that it'll work pretty awesomely up north.

DapoBear:

Kobojunkie: The hydroponics seems very relevant for the North. Consider this paragraph from the Wikipedia article:

Arizona, as you know, is mostly desert. So where do they get the water from, to grow so many tomatoes? Well:

That to me is quite impressive.

Why would it be relevant to the north? I don't understand. The North has land for planting of crops and water scarcity up there is mostly due to politicians not doing their job at all. Hydroponics sets ups cost money and water. Hydroponics will work anywhere only I am not sold on the increase in yield claim. If you plant a disease prone seed in a green house or out in the field, you are likely to have poor harvest either way. The problem of yield is likely because farmers do not have open access to higher yielding seeds and maybe water, not necessarily land in many of the cases I have researched in the past.

Kobojunkie:

Why would it be relevant to the north? I don't understand. The North has land for planting of crops and water scarcity up there is mostly due to politicians not doing their job at all. Hydroponics sets ups cost money and water. Hydroponics will work anywhere only I am not sold on the increase in yield claim. If you plant a disease prone seed in a green house or out in the field, you are likely to have poor harvest either way. The problem of yield is likely because farmers do not have open access to higher yielding seeds and maybe water, not necessarily land in many of the cases I have researched in the past.

Well then I guess its time for DANGOTE to bring his money-plastered hand into the matter

Kobojunkie:

Why would it be relevant to the north? I don't understand. The North has land for planting of crops and water scarcity up there is mostly due to politicians not doing their job at all. Hydroponics sets ups cost money and water. The problem of yield is likely because farmers do not have open access to higher yielding seeds and maybe water, not necessarily land in many of the cases I have researched in the past.

Yes, water is the issue. If you have arbitrary amounts of (free) water available to you, then hydroponics is less relevant. But even in Nigeria, where can you can get the enormous amounts of water to run a large farm, for free (or very cheaply)?

Also, why don't they have access to these seeds? Are they just more expensive, or not easy to get in Nigeria?

DapoBear:

Also, why don't they have access to these seeds? Are they just more expensive, or not easy to get in Nigeria?

Waddya mean they don't have access to seeds? I suspect that getting seeds should be as easy as going to the market to buy suya!

DapoBear:

Yes, water is the issue. If you have arbitrary amounts of (free) water available to you, then hydroponics is less relevant. But even in Nigeria, where can you can get the enormous amounts of water to run a large farm, for free (or very cheaply)?

Now you are missing the point of Hydroponics in the first place. Hydroponics is not for places where water is scarce.

Hydroponics (From the Greek words hydro, water and ponos, labor) is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium, such as perlite, gravel, mineral wool, or coconut husk.
Researchers discovered that plants absorb essential fat nutrients as organic ions in H2O. In natural conditions, soil acts as a solid nutrient reservoir but the soil itself is not essential to plant growth. When the mineral nutrients in the soil dissolve in water, plant roots are able to absorb them. When the required mineral nutrients are introduced into a plant's root supply artificially, soil is no longer required for the plant to thrive. Almost any terrestrial plant will grow with hydroponics. Hydroponics is also a standard technique in biology research and teaching.

Hydroponics is not really for places where there is water scarcity. No, it will work well in the south. In fact I believe it makes more sense in the south in areas where land is expensive.

I think the high-yield seeds are sold by firms like Monsanto. I'm pretty sure they do something funky with them that requires you to purchase many, many times, rather than just buy once. I'm not completely sure of the specifics though, perhaps Kobo can fill us in

DapoBear:

Also, why don't they have access to these seeds? Are they just more expensive, or not easy to get in Nigeria?

In America, seeds are a billion dollar business, and No, farmers do not just go to the grocery store to buy a bag of corn so they can plant it. Farmers actually try to look for suppliers of high grade seeds to purchase from so they can get better yields for their money. If a farmer gets his hands on these seeds, he can harvest x times more than he planted. It is really interesting stuff. In places like indonesia, india, there are companies working on producing and selling high yield rice seeds to farmers around the world.

Our local farmers need to have some access to these in order to thrive.

Kobojunkie:

In America, seeds are a billion dollar business, and No, farmers do not just go to the grocery store to buy a bag of corn so they can plant it. Farmers actually try to look for suppliers of high grade seeds to purchase from so they can get better yields for their money.

But I wouldn't assume that poorer farmers in Africa, and Nigeria in particular, would be so particular about the kinds of seeds they're buying. Yeah if you're talking about, say, DANGOTE, i mean you're bound to see big money being switched, but when you go down to like the everyday Nigerian farmer, i don't expect that you're gna see much desire for high grade seeds.

Kobojunkie:



Think a bit more about what you have above for a minute to understand how it does not make sense, even in the Nigerian context.

Can you please indulge me. Usually, importation serves to bring better or cheaper products or services. Tell me which of the aforementioned problems that is being solved by the imported bananas?.