OGBONO, botanical name IRVINGIA is native to Africa and Southeast Asia. It is popularly called Ogbono, Dika or wild Mango. It has no relation to Mango. It grows in the wild and are essentially propagated in the wild from the left over fruits where germinates. The fruit are eaten by man and beast alike but the main benefit of Irvingia is not the fruit that is eaten raw but the seed which is used to cook soup in many African countries. It is one of the most widely sold forest product providing source of revenue for many. There are basically two species of the ogbono; the one that the fruit is sweet and the one that is not but the seeds obtained thereafter are used for the same purpose. Given the popularity of ogbono soup, Dika kernels are traded on both a local and a regional scale. All across western Africa they bring high prices, especially out of season. It is calculated that a farmer could make US$900 from the seeds gathered off a single dika tree yearly.
PROPAGATION AND SOIL REQUIREMENT
Air-layering is the modern way and fastest way to achieve fruiting very early for Ogbono and this is advised for those who want to go into commercial farming of dika with this method the tree will fruit between 2 to 4 years and will start giving optimum yield by time it is 6 years. The soil type should be sandy loamy soil for optimum production. With a PH level of 4.5 to 7 as it has been established that Ogbono does well in soil that are acidic.
PRODUCTION
Dika has two fruiting season in a year April – July and September – October. The fruit are greenish when ripe. It can be harvested by hand or any other mechanical means. If it’s the sweet type the fruit can be sold to factories that make Jam although the main money spinner is the seed. Planting should be done when the rainy season has fully arrived. The major inputs for commercial DIKA farming are; LAND, IMPROVED SEEDLING, TRAINING, FERTILISER, DISEASE AND PEST CONTROL, FINANCE and MARKET.
LAND
Dika grows best in light, sandy loam soil with a pH of 4.5-7. Procuring Land for such commercial farming has to be done by professionals who have the eagle eye to decode the soil texture without much examination. It is also easier to source for land for agriculture through professionals because they have extensive network and can arrange Land for you in short notice and in a cost effective manner. There is little need to purchase land for farming in large scale from the beginning as this will tie down available capital, thus it is advisable to lease and subsequently pay for the land from the proceed of the farm. BUSINESS ADVISORY NETWORK is a guru in this regard and will help you arrange choice farm land at the best rate, all you have to do is to talk to us.
TRAINING
We will guide you on best planting season, spacing, fertilizer type, how to source fertilizer, fertilizer application. Weed control, Crops you may intercrop with Dika, the effects of intercropping on Dika yield, Storage and processing.
FINANCE
The central bank of Nigeria has a lot of incentives/ credits for commercial farmers at a reduced interest rate of 9% per annum. Most of these are organized by the central bank of Nigeria although accessed through the commercial bank. BAN will guide you on how to source credit under any of these credits listed below;
Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) The Fund guarantees credit facilities extended to farmers by banks up to 75% of the amount in default net of any security realized. The Fund is managed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, through this guarantee it is easy For commercial banks to loan to farmers without fear
Agricultural Credit Support Scheme (ACSS) ACSS funds are disbursed to farmers and agro-allied entrepreneurs at a single-digit interest rate of 8.0 percent. At the commencement of the project support, banks will grant loans to qualified applicants at 14.0 per cent interest rate. Applicants who pay back their facilities on schedule are to enjoy a rebate of 6.0 per cent, thus reducing the effective rate of interest to be paid by farmers to 8.0 per cent.
Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS) This credit scheme is specifically targeted to finance the country’s agricultural value chain (production, processing, storage and marketing). The maximum interest rate to the borrower under the scheme shall not exceed 9 per cent, inclusive of all charges.
Nigeria Incentive Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending ( NIRSAL) Risk is the single-most important factor that prevents banks from lending to agriculture. To change banks’ perception that agriculture is a high-risk sector, NIRSAL has a USD300 Million Risk-Sharing Facility that it uses to share their losses on agricultural loans through Credit Risk Guarantees. NIRSAL shares risk with banks ranging from 30% to 75% of face value depending on segment.
This also includes a guarantee fee of 1% per annum on outstanding protected principal and interest. Up to 40% of interest cost rebated to select value chain participants every 90 days if loan remains in good standing (no partial or full default). All crops, livestock and related supportive economic activity across the value chain are supported by this facility.
The news is that government is willing and doing everything to encourage farming in Nigeria because that’s where the country straight lies. Nigeria is endowed with arable land and fresh water resources when viewed as a whole with approximately 61 million hectares of the land cultivable while the total renewable water resources is about 280 km3/year; which include river Niger, river Benue, lake Chad, Osun river, Hadejia River, Bonny river and a host of others. The major soil types in Nigeria, according to FAO soil taxonomist are fluvisols, regosols, gleysols, acrisols, ferrasols, alisols, lixisols, cambisols, luvisols, nitosols, arenosols and vertisols. These soil types vary in their potential for agricultural use according to FAO.
FARM EQUIPMENT
BAN will also help prospective farmers in securing farm equipment. This may be achieved through the federal and state government partnership with the support of any of the credit schemes. Through this, farm equipment can be acquired or leased at a reduced cost.
MARKET
Demand for OGBONO is high both locally and internationally. Ogbono is grown mainly for its edible seeds. The oil is sold to factories making margarine, soap, or pharmaceuticals. A farmer may decide to sell locally or export depending on his business plan.
SECURITY
Security of the farm is of utmost importance, thus adequate security must be put in place to eliminate/ reduce pilferage in the farm.
OGBONO VALUE CHAIN
We will not only guide you on DIKA farming. We will introduce you to DIKA business value chain depending on your interest. Even though this requires huge investment, the return is enormous and the market potential is also huge. If you are desirous of farming with minimal discomfort and also wants to stay out of losses that might result due to lack of planning talk to us at BAN