Rain, rain go away: Meet farmers who prefer dry season

Alhaji Yusuf Muhammadu has been into Fadama farming at No Man’s Land Fadama site in Fagge local government area of Kano State for more than 60 years now. The only business he has known in his lifetime is cultivating vegetables. Muhammadu, who was one of the few farmers in the area who have withstood the […]

Alhaji Yusuf Muhammadu has been into Fadama farming at No Man’s Land Fadama site in Fagge local government area of Kano State for more than 60 years now. The only business he has known in his lifetime is cultivating vegetables.
Muhammadu, who was one of the few farmers in the area who have withstood the challenges of previous farming seasons, said: “I have farmed in all seasons. During the rainy season, I only plant vegetables that can survive the rains, like lettuce. In the Harmattan, I plant all types of vegetables and crops that are suitable for dry season like carrots, onions, cabbages and others.
The farmer said life has always been difficult during rainy season, even though they work less at that time of the year. He said: “A farmer need not bother himself with watering his farm because of the rains. Hence, we don’t spend so much money to fuel or pumping machines for watering. Our major task in this season is to get rid of weed to allow the vegetables grow properly.
“Although we work much more in the dry season, we equally make more profit then than in any other seasons. This is the reason Fadama farmers prefer dry season to other seasons – not necessarily because we don’t like the rains,” he said.
Muhammadu also said: “with the adoption of modern farming, Fadama farmers are gradually switching over from old methods of farming to the modern ways. We are now using improved seeds that are suitable for all seasons and that is why we are cultivating vegetables on this site all year round.”
For Malam Bala Ahmad Gwagwarwa – who is also the chairman of No Man’s Land Fadama Farmers Association – farmers have now unveiled a new method where vegetables that are suitable for dry season are being planted even during the rains.
He said: “Before now, we only plant a few selected vegetables that can withstand rains. But after we found better methods, we started planting various types of vegetables including cabbage and lettuce, provided a farmer does not allow water to settle on the farm for more than 24 hours. If your farm is situated in a slope area, you would have no problem planting such vegetables all year round because the water cannot destroy the plantation since it cannot settle on your farm for more than 24 hours.”
He pointed out that in the past, farmers only plant vegetables such as lettuce, cabbage and others between October and February. From February onward, such vegetables are brought into Kano, Kaduna or Jos, the capital of Plateau State.
Gwagwarwa explained that some farmers in the area especially those that were lucky to have their farms situated on suitable areas can even delay planting cabbage and other such vegetables until August and the vegetables still do well despite the rains.
He said: “Some of the improved seeds are from China. Also there is a company which has developed cabbage and lettuce seeds that are suitable for dry session. In fact, the seeds are mainly for dry season.”
The chairman noted that despite the recent development, Harmattan is their best time to make profit because most of the vegetables prefer it than any other season.  “Farmers also spend less money on their farms in this period than in other periods. I only spend N500 daily to fuel my water pump machine for watering in the dry season. But in the other seasons, I have to spend up to N1,000 or more every day depending on the going rate for a gallon of fuel at the time. And I have to do this after every three days.”
He added that the biggest problem, aside the cost of fuel, is infestation by insects – which he said farmers face more during the rainy season than in other seasons.
Gwagwarwa said: “We have 13 associations here and each association has 25 registered members. Some of us inherited the farms and others are doing the business on hired farms.” He said he has been into farming for 30 years now, since 1986 when he was in Class 1 at Commercial School, Airport Road, Kano.
“I was in afternoon session in my school at that time. I would come to the farm only in the morning before school hours. I was paying 15 kobo daily at the time,” he said.
The chairman appealed to the Kano State government to incorporate members of the association in its empowerment programmes. He also called on the state’s ministry of agriculture to provide their members with work tools, even on loan arrangement.
“I know no other business than farming and through it I have educated my children. My first son is in primary five and his sister in primary four and they are both in private schools, while my other two children are in public schools courtesy of this little business.
Yusha’u Alhassan is another farmer in the area. He has been in the business for 55 years now. He told Daily Trust that he plants all types of vegetables, as well as crops like Moringa and rice. He said some years back, they were unable to cultivate their farms during the rainy season because of floods.
“We can hardly run out of vegetables in this place now because we have gotten new techniques of farming in all seasons,” Alhassan said, adding that when business is at its peak, he could rake in a profit of N3,000 daily and when it was not, about N1,000.
Muhammadu Tajo, another farmer with 40 years in the business cultivating all types of vegetables, said: “We prefer dry season than other seasons because we make more gain in this season.”
Daily Trust gathered that most of the vegetables cultivated in the area are taken to Yankaba, Sabon-Gari and Kofar Wambai markets for onward sale.