The Steering Committee of the National Agricultural Extension and Research Programme, NAERP, which is the productive arm of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, has evaluated the activities of last year, defined regulations and adopted a budget of FCFA 1.1 billion for 2012. Presenting the balance-sheet for 2011, the vice president of the Steering Committee, Weulassagos Réné de Grâce said NAERP put in place 1,761 motorcycles and 71 vehicles to facilitate mobility of workers in the field in order to attend the goal of diffusion of appropriate and efficient technologies to farmers.
According to the National Coordinator of NAERP, Mbili Olome Jean Pierre, the programme is working with 15,000 villages from all 10 Regions of Cameroon and has assisted 10,000 farmer organisations to achieve their objectives through the technical, managerial and innovative areas. Concerning innovation, they have put in place the promotion of upgraded seeds like banana, corn, cocoa, and coffee amongst others to improve on yields. He pointed out that farmers who planted the upgraded seed of corn for example harvested between two and three tonnes per hectare, while those who used local seeds harvested approximately one tonne per hectare.
On her part, Dr. Ntunmngia Regina Shu of the private sector said the assistance they give farmers includes research. “We carried out trials on rice varieties with farmers, and we are about diffusing the varieties to farmers” she pointed out. NAERP also provided farming equipment to farmers and helped them to form farmer associations to better carry out their activities. For this year, NAERP has as objective to improve on the system to facilitate and support farmers, help farmers who are into seed multiplication to set up multiplication plots, provide enough good quality seeds and draw up a new agricultural calendar.
