Talle, the night female rice farmer

The over 50-year-old farmer who started farming over 30 years ago said there is no magic in going to farm in the night when other farmers are fast asleep. She said: “I lost my husband about 35 years ago and I was left with six children without anyone to cater for us. After my mourning […]

The over 50-year-old farmer who started farming over 30 years ago said there is no magic in going to farm in the night when other farmers are fast asleep. She said: “I lost my husband about 35 years ago and I was left with six children without anyone to cater for us. After my mourning period was over, no help was forthcoming. When we exhausted the food items we got from my family and I can’t figure out where the next food items would be coming from, I had no alternative but to turn into a farmer.
“It was at that point I used the little money with me to buy rice seeds and proceed to work on the farm I had then. It was not easy. I used to go to the farm late in the night when my children were asleep. I had no money to hire people to work for me in the farm. My children were too small for me to either take them to the farm or leave them at home alone in the day time. There was nobody to look after them in the day time for me, So, I decided to go to the farm in the night when they were asleep and rush back before they wake up. I used to go with a lantern since everywhere was dark.”
Talle said when she started farming in the early 80s she used to harvest two to three bags of grains annually but now she harvests over 1,500 bags every year, adding: “Alhamdu Lillah (thanks be to Allah), I now consider myself a big time farmer. Allah has been kind to me. I have been able to train all my children through this rice business. Four of my children graduated from Bayero University, Kano. One has gotten a job while others are into agriculture.
“I have diversified. I am now into fish and poultry farming as well. My poultry farm is in Auyo. I just sold fish worth N750, 000. I sold broiler chickens during the Sallah period worth over N500, 000. I have cattle, too, in my farm. My cattle are up to 20.  In my rice business I have over 200 workers, including women. I have rice thrashing machine close to my house. I am doing well in all my agric business and I am encouraging women, both married and single in the villages and cities, to embark on agriculture.”
Talle, however, lamented that the federal government is not so keen in assisting female farmers, saying: “I was invited to Abuja by the Minister of Agriculture and Natural resources, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina over five months ago. That was after his official visit to Jigawa State when he visited my farm and was particularly impressed with women rice farmers in the state.
“He invited me to Abuja with some AFAN leaders in the state. We met thrice with President Goodluck Jonathan and the President asked the minister to give us, the women, a tractor, Hilux jeep and fertiliser for our women group. It is over five months now we are yet to see any of those things.”  
She said she held several meetings with her members and planned how to use the tractor in their farms and the Hilux for transporting grains from remote areas, yet, despite several calls to the minister, he has not actualised the president’s directive.
She said when the minister visited the farmlands at Adha in Auyo local government and saw how bad the road was and the difficulty farmers used to encounter in transporting their produce to market, he also promised to rehabilitate the road but work is yet to commence.