Rain break stalls harvest in Kwara

Our correspondent recalled that there was a natural rain break in the state in the current rainy season, raising concerns among people in the state especially farmers who direly need the rain to enhance the growth of their crops.For the two months of the break in rainfall, farmers’ hope of early harvest was dashed and […]

Our correspondent recalled that there was a natural rain break in the state in the current rainy season, raising concerns among people in the state especially farmers who direly need the rain to enhance the growth of their crops.
For the two months of the break in rainfall, farmers’ hope of early harvest was dashed and in some cases there was general crops failure and most of the planted crops dried off as a result of the said rain break. The major crops planted by individual farmers in the state are yam, maize and cassava.    
Efforts to get the commissioner for agriculture to comment on the issue proved abortive as he did not pick his calls neither did he reply the text message sent to him.
But individual farmers say they expect to start harvesting crops like maize and yam between November and December, blaming the delay on rain break.
A young farmer at Oke-Oyi farm settlement in Ilorin East Local Government, Mr. Olumo Jamiu said, “We planted Maize on May 16 and we applied fertilizer as usual. We expected to harvest by August and September. But there was rain break in June and July which led to crop failure. I can tell you that most farmers have crop failure because of the stoppage in rainfall. It also makes the crops expensive,” he said.

Jamiu who alongside other youth farmers that graduated from the Malete Youth Integrated Farm Institute and planted 160 hectares of Maize said the rain break equally affected the planting of groundnut, adding, “Some of the groundnut spoilt in the process of harvest due to shortfall of raiin,” he added.
Speaking with our correspondent, the state chairman of All Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Alhaji Hassan Abdullahi said, “Immediately after October, harvest will begin. That is the actual time we normally harvest. It is only maize and yam that we shall be harvesting.
“Cassava has no time of harvesting. It depends on how you want to harvest yours. Some are one year, some, one and half years and some are eight months. It depends on one’s wish. But for maize, we would begin harvest by end of September. Then we have harvested rice. That is the one planted by individual farmers”.