Katsina beans farmers optimistic of bumper harvest

Beans farmers in Katsina State are gearing up for a bumper harvest as the crop is blossoming and yielding fruits far better than that of the last two years. According to the farmers, the development cannot be unconnected with the late October rainfalls witnessed this year as the crop needed moisture and cold temperature to […]

Beans farmers in Katsina State are gearing up for a bumper harvest as the crop is blossoming and yielding fruits far better than that of the last two years.

According to the farmers, the development cannot be unconnected with the late October rainfalls witnessed this year as the crop needed moisture and cold temperature to sprout and blossom.

Yahaya Halilu, a farmer in Bakori LGA said beans has long been a supplementary crop among farmers produced in a mixed-cropping scheme.

“You hardly see a farm that is cleared for only beans production but we plant it along with maize, cotton, after harvest of rice or, nowadays along with soybeans. It greatly supplements the yield of the farm as well as the revenue of the farmers. One of the reasons we largely cultivate maize is because of the opportunity of mixing it with beans,” said Yahaya Halilu.

He added that beans farms this year will witness a bumper harvest as the crop has the potentials to equal maize in yield, considering how it blossoms.

“For those that plant it along with maize, they will smile to the bank because either in yield or in value beans will equal the maize produced,” he said.

Another farmer Lawal Isiyaku said what helped in boosting the yield of beans this year was the low price of pesticide in the market compared to last year.

“Farmers, this year were able to purchase pesticide and spray it on their beans farms. Cypermethrin known as Best, cost only N1,700 a litre but last year it was sold at N2,500. Similarly, Profenofos/Cypermethrin known as Sharp Shooter that was sold at N6,000 last year now cost N4,200, a litre.

Pests that usually destroy the crop at its early stage were mitigated early enough this year,” Lawal Isiyaku said.

He added that the FG’s Anchor-Borrower scheme that covered rice and  cotton farmers in the state has helped in the provision of sprayers and other kits to the farmers; thus boosting the culture and regularity of pesticide application among the beans farmers.

“Before it was common to see five farmers or more waiting for a commercial pesticide sprayer to spray their farms. That grossly affected output because beans pests need to be tackled at appropriate time and at regular intervals,” he said.

Usman Ya’u, a beans dealer at Bakori grains market, said what the farmers suffered last year was poor market price of the produce but this year seems promising especially with the closure of land borders.

“A 100kg bag of beans was sold at as low as N9,000 last year instead of N30,000 in the last two years. Now it is between N16,000 to N17,000. Border closure has two effects; it prevents the influx of foreign beans especially from Niger and Cameroon which flood our northern markets and slash the price of our local produced beans.

“On the other side the border closure prevents our merchants from exporting our local beans to outside markets, thus causing glut and low market price of it,” Usman Ya’u said, adding that one could not easily tell but that there is a lot of hope that this year would be better than last year in the market price of beans.