Corn lessons from America’s Midwest
It has become commonplace for Nigerian agriculture papers and articles to begin their analyses with a description of the glory days of agricultural prosperity and then go on to lament the subsequent decline in the 80s and 90s. It is hardly mentioned, however, that at the same time that Nigeria was experiencing a dip in crop production, some states in the United States were travelling in the opposite direction. In 1990, the state of Nebraska, for example, was producing 191 million bushels of corn. 22 years later, that figure had grown to 1.3 billion bushels, making Nebraska the third largest producer of corn in the United States (first and second are Iowa and Illinois). Today, America grows more corn per acre than any other country in the world, is responsible for 40 percent of global corn production, and gets billions of dollars in corn export revenue. The answer to the question of how states like Nebraska have been able to experience this astronomical rise in corn production is not hard to guess: innovation, technology, discipline, drive and stewardship.
Although less well-known than states like New York and California, Nebraska takes a lot of pride in its economic role in the United States. So pervasive is this state pride that the varsity football teams across the state are called The Cornhuskers, and hotels, automobile companies, banks and other corporations statewide have also incorporated the ‘Cornhusker’ name into their brands. Residents know very well that their agricultural output feeds the entire nation and buoys up the economy; and so, year in year out, they work hard to improve their output.
It is not surprising, then, that 95 percent of the corn farms are owned by families who almost treat their farms like heirlooms, to be passed on from generation to generation. With running and well-funded agricultural institutions, many young people in those regions graduate and move on to continue the family practice. Among these farmers, there is a clear-cut understanding of their role as stewards of the land; food baskets of the nation; and noble, indispensible practitioners and entrepreneurs. This understanding sees them taking their practice a notch higher from year to year. Farmers’ unions and lobby groups also have much clout as an economic group, which allows them to reap great dividends for their work and have their interests well represented in their governments. And even though the cornfields are, for the most part, located in the nation’s countryside, the state boasts a high standard of living and quality of public infrastructure as well as breathtaking landscape and sceneries.
The role of technology in this process cannot be overlooked. With GPS precision technology, farmers are able to achieve exactitude in fertiliser and pesticide application and location, by knowing where exactly these inputs are needed and in what amount, and thus obviating the need for mass and wasteful applications. This exactitude has also been achieved in assessing soil moisture levels, which guides irrigation patterns and ultimately enables farmers to nourish their soil with the right amount of water. Technology is also used to develop seed varieties that are drought-resistant.
It seems almost counterintuitive that while productivity has increased fivefold, deep tillage has decreased as farmers have cut down on plough usage. But deep tillage has been known to bare the soil of important nutrients by enabling erosion through runoff water from rainfall or melting snow. New planting techniques that employ less invasive and abradable methods leave more organic matter on the soil to improve the soil’s richness, enabling it to retain more moisture and ultimately increase output.
But the real nuance is not in the output increase. Rather, it is in the fact that Nebraskan farmers are now doing more with less – 44 percent less erosion, 20 percent less land, 37 percent less energy, less water, less chemicals and fertilisers. Even when domestic demand and national exports have steadied or levelled off, farmers have found that they can still do more with corn – field corn for animal feed, and corn starch for enhancing processed and frozen foods as well as making adhesives, cosmetics and other industrial products. No part of the corn is wasted; in fact, 99 percent of corn output is diverted towards non-human consumption purposes such as these. More importantly, this value-chain enhancement has led to an increased role for corn in fuel production as corn starch (which is converted to sugar and fermented) is increasingly being used to make ethanol.
By focusing on alternative uses and improving energy production, corn production is not only becoming more sustainable but is also improving the sustainability of agriculture and the economy as a whole. The production of ethanol, which has opened up a new energy reservoir and expanded the energy sector, has also provided jobs for many. In a country that has become overly reliant on crude oil, a leaf out of Nebraska’s book will be very helpful in reorienting us, allowing us to have our cake and eat it, too, by developing agriculture and energy simultaneously.
Perhaps there is also something to be said for investing in the potent agricultural zones in Nigeria, much like the Corn Belt in the United States. Rather than trying to spread funds thinly across agro and food processing zones in the country, Nigeria would do well to concentrate its efforts on states with the most resources in one field or another. Some Northern states can become a viable Corn Belt, for example; and with the right level of investment, technology, farmers’ unions or lobby groups, education, infrastructural development, national awareness, community culture and pride, Nigeria can rewrite its history and open its new chapter with a story of success and unprecedented progress.
Obasi is a syndicated columnist, co-founder of the Youth Consortium for Progress and one of the program managers for the Harambe Incubator for Sustainable and Rural Development (HISARD).
tobasi@harambenigeria.org
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