No dull moment in Kura as rice farmers record bumper harvest

Famous for the cultivation of rice, the people of Kura LGA have over the years contributed immensely to the production of the commodity for local consumption. In Kura town, rice is everywhere as everybody is a rice farmer.In all corners of the town, residents were seen engaging in post-harvest activities of their rice produce. The […]

Famous for the cultivation of rice, the people of Kura LGA have over the years contributed immensely to the production of the commodity for local consumption. In Kura town, rice is everywhere as everybody is a rice farmer.
In all corners of the town, residents were seen engaging in post-harvest activities of their rice produce. The rice harvest, our correspondent gathered, commenced weeks ago for those who planted theirs early.  
With the bumper harvest, youth from other local government areas of Kano State and beyond are trooping to the area to get daily farm jobs.  A popular junction in Kura, known as Dan Tamaro, has been designated for the purpose of recruitment of farm workers.
Speaking to our correspondent, the ward head of Alkalawa village in Kura, Malam Audu Kura, said he got 225 bags of rice this year against 210 he got last year.  
He said this year is one of the best since they commenced the cultivation of rice in Kura in 1985.
“I started farming in 1982 and it was guinea corn that we were cultivating until in 1985 when we were trained by the government on how to cultivate rice. I was one of the first set of people that started cultivating rice here in Kura,” he said.
From last year, he also said, they started cultivating rice twice a year in Kura, adding that “we start our dry season farming by February, harvest it by June and immediately after it we plant for the rainy season. We harvest that of the rainy season in October down to December.
“It would interest you to know that in last year’s dry season farming we had better harvest and this baffled us all because there was no rain; we were supplied water from the Tiga dam by the Hadejia/Jama’re River Basin Development Authority,” Malam Audu Kura said.
“If we are given adequate support, we can feed the nation and as well export our farm produce. But at the moment we are not being motivated by the government because even the fertiliser they are giving us is not sufficient. This year I got only four bags from the government; what will that do on my farm? he queried.
Malam Audu said with more rice mills springing up in the state, the problem of rice will be solved in Kura and that the farmers are willing and capable to cultivate more.
“Just harvest your rice, buyers are on ground because of the mills that are around us. Now a bag of rice goes for N5,000 here in Kura,” he added.
For his part, Alhassan Suleiman, 23, said this year’s farming season he got nine bags of rice from his farm.
“Last year I got less than five bags but this year I harvested nine bags on the same land. I’ve kept my farm produce inside a local store so that I can sell it after the rainy season. I will use the money from the sale to complete my house,” he said.
Suleiman who is a student of Arabic Secondary School in Kura, also said he has dropped his ambition of becoming a civil servant for farming following the annual increase in his farm produce.
“Before now my ambition was to become a civil servant but with this annual increment in my farm produce, I have dropped that ambition for farming.  Twice in a year I cultivate rice and tomatoes so there is no dull moment for me,” he said.
He urged the state government to repair the water channel in Kura to boost dry season farming in the community, urging also that timely disbursement of fertiliser and other farm implements should be the focus of the government.
“We are calling on government to regularly provide agro-allied chemicals to us because this will enable us to double our output. Aside from my farm, I work as farm labourer for other farmers in our community and daily they pay me N500,” he said.
The suitability of the Kura farmland for the cultivation of rice has attracted people from other states in the country to the area. One of the people is Mohammed Sa’ad, 42, who hails from Adamawa State.
“I have been in Kura for over 15 years now. It was a friend of mine from Taraba State that brought me here and since then I have remained in Kura cultivating rice. From the land I bought when I came to the village annually I get between 25 and 30 bags of rice,” he said.
A farm worker, Shehu Umar, also said he is augmenting his farming business with labourer’s job in order to save money for his marriage which is coming up soon.
“I have a farmland like many other youth in Kura but I need to raise more money because of my marriage and this is why I’m doing daily paid job at people’s farms,” he added.