Oil spills, poor policies affect harvest of crops in Rivers

A sample survey conducted by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources revealed that about 50 percent of the rural dwellers are involved in farming. The main root crops are yam, cassava and cocoyam while the grains are maize, lowland rice and beans. Other crops grown for food include vegetables, melon, pineapples and plantain. […]

A sample survey conducted by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources revealed that about 50 percent of the rural dwellers are involved in farming. The main root crops are yam, cassava and cocoyam while the grains are maize, lowland rice and beans. Other crops grown for food include vegetables, melon, pineapples and plantain. The major crops are cassava, yam, oil palm products and pineapples.
Land use analysis reveals clearly that only a very small portion of cultivable land is presently used for crop production. This amount is estimated at about 1,060,162 hectares or about 54.6 percent of cultivable land consisting of all the upland area and a large portion of the upper/lower Delta plains.
Crops land forms relatively large areas estimated at about 60 percent of the state’s land area. Of this amount about 80,000 hectares or about 4 percent of the state’s land area is cultivated annually, the rest lying fallow. National statistical data also shows that Rivers State is one of the leading states in the production of cassava, cocoyam, rice, maize, pineapple, mango, pawpaw, guava, beans, pepper and banana.
Both Yege and Kpor are agrarian communities noted for high yield root crops such as yam. The communities are located in Kana Local Government Area of the state. They could well be described as the food basket of the state given the fact that they produce yam in commercial quantities which is distributed across the state and neighbouring Akwa Ibom State.
Majority of farmers in the two communities are subsistence farmers but also produced large quantities which they sell in the open market.  But despite efforts of the locals in producing the root crop, they have daunting challenges such as environmental pollution occasioned by the presence of gas and crude pipelines that cut across the communities.
Crude oil pipelines owned by Shell Petroleum Development Company are installed in the areas. Most of the pipes have ruptured and spill their contents in farmlands destroying high yielding seeds planted by the locals.
“We are facing the challenges of environmental pollution as a result of the presence of multinational oil companies. Few years back there was a major oil spill which destroyed our farmlands. When oil spillage occurs, our plants are destroyed and the companies involved are very reluctant to pay compensation. This is really affecting farmers in this area,” stated Dekor Barinee a local farmer in Yege.
Michael Obari, another farmer from Kpor told Daily Trust that lack of farm input such as fertilizer, high yielding seeds and indifference of the government in assisting farmers are the major challenges facing farmers in the area, adding, “if we are given the requisite tools such as fertilizer, soft loan and high yielding seeds by government, we will be able to produce yams that will sustain the entire Niger Delta region. We have very fertile land despite environmental pollution occasioned by operations of multinational oil company but lack of funding is our major challenges.”
Most of the yam produced in these communities also have ready markets but dilapidated roads hinder  transportation of farm produce from the rural areas to the cities. The Ogoni axis of Rivers State has massive and vast lands that are yet to be cultivated.
Two years ago, Rivers State government contracted an Israeli firm to cultivate banana in the Kana axis of the Ogoni Community. The banana farm has taken more than 10,000 hectares of the community’s land.
Abua is another agrarian community located in Abua/Odua Local Government Area of the state. The community is known as centre of fruit juice of the state because of its all season pineapple yield. Pineapple plantations occupy thousands of hectares of land in the area. Large quantities of pineapple are transported to other states.
But pineapple farmers from Abua had a bitter experience last year because of the devastating flood that destroyed all their produce. Mumoye Oyagri a pineapple farmer told this reporter that farmers in the area incurred huge losses as a result of the flood.
Cassava is another major root crop produced in large quantity at Etche also in the state. Hundreds of tons of cassava are transported from Etche to all parts of Rivers and neighbouring Abia and Imo states. Odagwa, a sleepy village in Etche is an epicenter of high yielding cassava varieties. Cassava crops as well as processed ones are transported on a daily basis from Odagwa to Imo, Abia and all parts of Rivers State.
Rivers State Commissioner for Agriculture Emmanuel Chindah said his ministry has the responsibility of promoting farmers’ friendly agricultural policies with a view to achieving food security. He said one of the cardinal objectives of the state government is to encourage full private sector participation in order to attain food security.