Female rice farmers in Kebbi bemoan poor market

Acting chairperson of the Female Rice Farmers Association, Argungu Local Government Council chapter, Hajiya Balaraba Argungu, who has been into rice farming for over 17 years and used to make over 150 bags in the dry season, expressed fear that the volume of her harvest may drop this year because of the lack of favourable […]

Acting chairperson of the Female Rice Farmers Association, Argungu Local Government Council chapter, Hajiya Balaraba Argungu, who has been into rice farming for over 17 years and used to make over 150 bags in the dry season, expressed fear that the volume of her harvest may drop this year because of the lack of favourable market and insufficient fertiliser.
She expressed concern that she and other female rice farmers in the state may not get the fertiliser she needs within the one week government earmarked for the sales of the commodity, saying one week is too short for peasant farmers to raise money and pay for their allocation.
She said another major challenge hampering dry season farming is that for the past 12 years, none of her members has received any water pump said to be distributed annually by the state government, adding: “Most of us are widows who depend on farming to feed our children and pay their school fees, but we have challenges of lack of adequate support, especially in the area of provision of dry season farm inputs such as water pump, enough fertiliser and good market for our rice. Ours is a bit better because some private companies do buy at the rate of N7, 000 per bag of paddy rice.”
Chairman, Argungu chapter of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Malam Yusuf Gabe, said farmers are very busy now preparing their farmlands for cultivation while some have started transplanting rice for the dry season.
As for wheat, he said it is now late for those who want to plant it to do so because some of the upgraded wheat is almost ready for harvest.
Gabe said: “The one week given for this year’s distribution of fertiliser is too shot because most farmers may not have money within 7 days to pay for their allocation. It took government about seven weeks distributing fertiliser to dry season farmers last year. Why should it be anything less this year?
“Like here in Argungu where we have about 10,000 dry season farmers, how can we effectively sell fertiliser to that number of farmers at only three distribution centres in a week? There will certainly be problem.”
On whether there are buyers of the rice from farmers in the state, the chairman said there are two international companies that buy the produce from farmers at the rate of N7,200 per 75 kilogrammes bag as against N4,000 to N4,300 in the open market.
He said farmers in the state only started cultivating wheat last year and government intervention came through the purchase of the produce at the rate of N12, 000 per 100 kilogrammes bag.
“So we are even lucky that government bought directly from the farmers, that was why we are encouraged to farm more this year and the federal government came in to provide seeds for us at the rate of only N600 for a 50 kilogrammes bag.”
He said wheat farmers are hoping that the federal government will also purchase the wheat produced by farmers in the state directly from them.
Gabe said when he started cultivating wheat for the first time last year he harvested six bags, adding: “A farmer who produces six bags of wheat is a good farmer because same land can be used to produce 50 bags of rice.
“I was also able to produce 240 bags of rice which may drop in this season because part of the land I used last year is not mine. The owners have taken it. Everybody in Argungu is fully engaged in farming, so even if you rent a farm from somebody this year he may want to collect it back after a year or so.
“My only appeal is that the state and federal governments should link farmers with good markets for our produce, we need profitable market. If this happens, we assure government that farm produce from this state alone can feed the nation because in Argungu, we have more than 20 female farmers associations and more number of the male farmers associations.”
State RIFAN Chairman, Mohammed Sahabi Augie, called on farmers to come forward to collect the fertilizers, considering the one week period given for the distribution.
He said the state is ahead of others in dry season rice farming, calling on companies to come and purchase directly from farmers and to also establish enough rice mills to curb smuggling of rice into Nigeria.
“We are aware that most rice farmers are becoming discouraged because of lack of patronage, this unpatriotic act from the part of those companies is very discouraging. That is why we are calling on them to patronise our farmers because the rice we produce is even of higher quality than what they are importing.
“The state government bought about 140,000 bags of rice at the rate of N6, 500 through its Sure-P. But that quantity is far less than what farmers produce across the state,” he said.
Malam Garba Aliyu Mai Arewa is a civil servant and a farmer. He said he has stopped dry season farming for the past three years because of the loss he experienced from his produce due to lack of profitable market.
“I used to make between 45 and 50 bags of rice in the dry season. I sell each bag of rice at the cost of N7, 000 to a Chinese company which is far below the cost of production. That was what completely discouraged me.
“In short, even the fertiliser distributed to farmers is not enough. I had to buy extra 15 bags in addition to the two from government to apply in my farm. I really had a terrible experience,”  he said.
He commended retired Supreme Court Justice Uthman Mohammed for extending water supply from his farm to other neighbouring farms in Argungu to enable farmers to irrigate their farms.
The state director, federal ministry of agriculture confirmed to Daily Trust the kick-off of fertiliser distribution to 156,000 dry season farmers across the state within one week.
He said: “Each of the 156,000 dry season farmers across the state will get three bags of the fertiliser and a 25 kg bag of improved rice seed.
“But I believe there is room for adjustment where need be so we can vigorously work towards ensuring that all farmers get the fertiliser in good time.”