Onion farming enjoys brisk business in Mairuwa

One cannot imagine a recipe without onion spicing it up however little. This wonderful bulb-vegetable is one of the oldest edible food sources known to mankind.Apart from its everyday use as a condiment in food preparations, it has also been used in traditional medicines since ancient times for its health promoting and curative properties.Many farmers […]

One cannot imagine a recipe without onion spicing it up however little. This wonderful bulb-vegetable is one of the oldest edible food sources known to mankind.
Apart from its everyday use as a condiment in food preparations, it has also been used in traditional medicines since ancient times for its health promoting and curative properties.
Many farmers in Katsina State who utilise the opportunity provided by the produce are making good money through its cultivation through both rain-fed and dry season irrigation.
When Daily Trust visited Mairuwa village in Faskari Local Government Area of the state, it discovered that the villagers, mostly the youth, were benefitting immensely from farming and trading in onions.
Young farmers in the village and its environs are strengthening their resource base through onion farming as it is cultivated in both rainy and dry seasons.
In the absence of dam or river to supply the farms with irrigation water in dry season, the farmers in Mairuwa took advantage of the swampy nature of their farmlands and dug boreholes for their irrigation activities.
Daily Trust spoke with some of the farmers who explained the many benefits of onion farming among other vegetables and the problems they are facing.
Hamisu Isa, 28, a farmer told this reporter that irrigation activity is a very significant part of their life, adding, “virtually every young man in this village partakes in irrigation activity either directly or indirectly and onion is one of the major crops that is making us proud here,” he said.
Isa said young men in Mairuwa are making hundreds of thousands of naira through the production of onions. He said some farmers harvest up to 50 bags of onions which is sold at its peak price of N15,000 each, adding however that during glut, mostly in the months of September and October, the price per bag drops to as low as N3,000.
Another farmer in the area, Mu’azu Lawal, said he resorted to irrigation activities where he cultivates onion and tomatoes, saying, “I bought a motorcycle from the proceeds of my farm which I am using for commercial purpose and I am also sponsoring my younger brother for an NCE course at FCE Zaria.”
Malam Isa mai trader a resident of Mairuwa village who is also one of the major irrigation farmers in the area said it is high time the youth began to invest in agriculture, most especially with the current dwindling oil economy.
He also commended Katsina State government for its efforts in providing irrigation farmers with fertiliser and pesticide but called on the authorities concerned to take accurate statistics of the irrigation farmers across the state before distributing the fertiliser so that real farmers can benefit adequately.
“Government is trying in supplying irrigation farmers with fertiliser and pesticide annually but it is not sufficient enough. For example I have a farmland that is producing not less than 70 bags of maize but I was allocated only half bag of fertiliser this year,” he said.
He further said onion farmers in Mairuwa are finding it easy to market their commodity as merchants and onion dealers from different parts of the country come to their stores and buy it in large quantities.
Mal Isa added that last year, he made a profit of N500,000 from his combined onion and tomato farming.
Similarly, Ibrahim Sufyanu, another farmer, explained to this reporter the processes of cultivating onions, saying that because local farmers hardly access the improved onion seedlings, they resort to improving it locally.
“To generate the seedlings, matured onion bulbs are selected, cutting each into four equal parts before planting. The offshoot will grow and produce the seeds in round pods which are subsequently planted, nursed and finally transplanted in the main farmlands.
“Normally onion seeds germinate and grow within 40 days to two months, then weekly watering can take off followed by weeding and application of fertilizer and pesticides.
“Up to its harvest, onions take 4-5 months and sometimes a farmer may decide to leave it till after six months,” he explained.