Rice farmers in Katsina State have decried the low yield recorded this farming season, despite the huge investments on their farms during the season.
Some of the farmers interviewed told 21st CENTURY CHRONICLE that even though their expenditure was more this year, the yield was lower compared to the preceding year.
A 42-year-old rice farmer in Bakori local government, Samaila Yayo, who said he has been into rice farming for 11 years, said he was barely able to get 2 bags of rice after threshing, compared to 2021 when he got 18 bags on the same plot of land, seedlings, herbicides, fertilizer and other input.
Yayo also decried the cost of farm input this season, compared to the last. According to him, a bag of fertilizer that was bought for N14,000 last year was N22,000.
He, however, said he didn’t have to pay for labour as his brother joined him to do the tilling, weeding and ploughing on his farm.
When asked the reason for the low yield, he attributed it to God’s way of punishing the people, because clerics had said the people’s failure to give out Zakkat as God admonished Muslims was responsible for the low yield.
Haruna Musa, 38, a rice farmer from Danja local government blamed the low yield on inconsistency in rainfall.
According to him, a lot of farmers planted early but rainfall ceased for more than 2 weeks, making the rice to be stunted and when the rain resumed, there was severe flooding that washed a lot of rice farms while those that survived could not do well because of the excess water.
Musa also decried the effect of diseases and pest on his farm, saying as a result of the combined factors, he was only able to harvest four bags, compared to the 57 he harvested last year on the same size of land with the same input.
Another rice farmer in Dandume, Umar Alhaji Ibrahim, attributed his low yield to fertilizer and herbicide failure.
He told 21st CENTURY CHRONICLE that he used new brands of fertilizer and herbicides in a bid to save cost, as they were cheaper but at harvest time, his yield dropped from 27 bags in the previous year to one bag this season.
According to him, the first sign that all was not well was when he noticed that the rice stopped growing after the herbicide was applied but later picked up but it was too late as the rice was already stunted.
A crop science expert from the Federal University Dutse, Jigawa State, undergoing research at Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, who spoke anonymously, faulted farmers for sticking to traditional farming systems despite changing climate and rainfall patterns.
“Some farmers make use of chemicals (herbicides and pesticides) without proper knowledge on how and when to use them. Farmers need to know these things and also do crop rotation,” he added.
An official of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) in Katsina State, Abubakar Idris, also attributed the low yield to inconsistency in the rainfall pattern.
He said there was a lull in rainfall after rice was planted and then when the rains resumed, the intensity was too much, leading to too much water for the rice, which turned out to be counter-productive.
Idris also faulted lack of proper education by agricultural extension workers, saying some farmers used grains from previous years without treatment.
He, therefore, advised farmers to always look for high quality treated seeds that are water and pest resistant from seed companies.
For Saad Abubakar, excess rain water and the resultant flood was to blame for the losses suffered by farmers this year.
On the issue of victims being those who did not offer Zakkat, he said while it was good to give alms as admonished y Islam, the best way for farmers to go was to make a switch to mechanized farming and the use of improved seedlings, in addition to adoption of other best practices.
