Suru Rice farmers decry inaccessibility to agric finance

One of the rice farmers in the area, Alhaji Musa Giwa-Tazo, lamented that farmers in Suru who used to produce rice in commercial quantity, still use their hands and hoes to farm because there were no tractors for them to farm with.Giwa-Tazo said: “We have since formed ourselves into various unions and associations but could […]

One of the rice farmers in the area, Alhaji Musa Giwa-Tazo, lamented that farmers in Suru who used to produce rice in commercial quantity, still use their hands and hoes to farm because there were no tractors for them to farm with.
Giwa-Tazo said: “We have since formed ourselves into various unions and associations but could not still access any loan because of high interest rates and unnecessary demand for collateral. Even when the bank agrees to give you the loan, it is usually N50, 000 to N100, 000 which is too small for any meaningful development.”
Another farmer, Aliyu Suru, decried the fact that the banks and government are skeptical to borrow the farmers’ cash, advising: “Let them buy good water pumping machines, hybrid seeds, adequate fertiliser and other inputs for about three seasons and give us so that we can pay back within six farming seasons. That will help a lot.”
Secretary of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Suru Local Government Area, Alhaji Aliyu Tsoho Suru, said for the 25 years he has been farming in the area, he has never accessed any bank loan despite several applications he made to that effect.
“I have only one pumping machine which is not enough to pump sufficient water to my vast farmland. I need at least four pumps that can be managed to water my farm. High cost of fuel is another issue because we use to buy a litre of petrol for as high as N120 when fuel is available and it goes as high as N140 to N160 during fuel scarcity.”
Suru said another major challenge is lack of market for the large harvest of rice produced by the 13,570 registered farmers in Suru alone.
He said: “We have 13,570 registered farmers in this area. We have problem marketing our crop. Most farmers are even contemplating reducing their production because of lack of profitable market. We sell a bag at between N4,000 to N5,000 in the open market, while the state government buys at N6, 500 per bag through SURE-P.
“The minister for agriculture came here and promised us that the federal government will buy our rice N15,000 per bag. Since he left up till now, we have not heard from the minister again. But there is a private company from Katsina that used to come and buy at N110 per kilogramme but it has recently reduced the amount to N60 per kilogramme. It is that bad.”