Why Taraba irrigation rice farmers worry over current prices
Hundreds of dry season rice farmers in Taraba State have expressed concerns over the crash in the price of paddy even as harvests have been good. Our correspondent in Jalingo reports that the price of paddy has fallen from N50,000 to N37 000 in the state as farmers started harvesting their crops from the irrigation […]
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Hundreds of dry season rice farmers in Taraba State have expressed concerns over the crash in the price of paddy even as harvests have been good.
Our correspondent in Jalingo reports that the price of paddy has fallen from N50,000 to N37 000 in the state as farmers started harvesting their crops from the irrigation fields across the six local government areas of the state.
With the crash in the price of paddy, rice farmers fear they would not recover their investments due to the high cost of production.
Farmers, who spoke with our correspondent, said they spent much this year to produce rice because of the increase in the price of petrol, fertiliser, labour and other inputs.
They fear if the prices remain as they are now, they will suffer severe losses that will make it difficult to engage in the wet season farming, which is already here.
Our reporter, who visited three irrigation fields in the state, gathered that many farmers moved into those fields from Jalingo, the state capital, and from other states in the country including the South-South.
One of the locals said, ‘’They moved and settled with their families for the purpose of irrigation farming. This movement started four years ago but this year witnessed the highest number of people that came to be part of the irrigation activities.’’
Ibrahim Sule, a middle aged man from Kebbi State, told our reporter that he learnt about the potential of irrigation farming in Taraba State four years ago and he decided to move in 2022.
According to him, in his first year, he started as a labourer in a rice farm belonging to a farmer from Borno State.
He said this year; he expanded the scope of his irrigation and is hoping to get over 100 bags of paddy.
Demand for local rice and paddy rice was responsible for mass movement of farmers from different parts of the country into Taraba, and such movement started during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, further findings revealed.
This year, it was learnt the farmers encountered numerous challenges including high-cost of farm inputs like rice seed, fertiliser, chemicals, engine and solar water pumping machines, as well as diesel and petrol.
Similarly, charges for hiring irrigation fields and cost of labour also went up but these challenges did not discourage the farmers. It rather propelled their zeal and commitment which currently translates to achievement.
One farmer at Sheka irrigation fields has been assisting farmers to expand their capacity by providing them with incentives.
Isa Tafida, a large-scale farmer for many years, has been providing prepared plots of irrigation land at Sheka irrigation fields to farmers from across the country.
He is doing this to help farmers who have little or no money to conduct both dry season and wet season farmings.
He gave them fertilizers, chemicals, water pumping machines and money to take care of labourers, as well as money for harvesting.
The farmers, however, would repay what was given to them without interest and that has encouraged young farmers from many states of the federation to take advantage of the support and engage in the dry season farming.
Further findings revealed that many beneficiaries of such support by Isa Tafida are now big farmers with good capital and do farming without any financial support.
Adamu Salihu, from Yobe State, one of the beneficiaries of Isa Tafida’s support, told our reporter that when he came to Sheka three years ago, he started as a labourer.
“When I came, I worked as a labourer but through hard work, I became financially independent and now, I manage my farms without seeking financial support.
“Sheka is now my second home because of the progress I’ve achieved. I have never made N200,000 in my life but I have made over N1 million from irrigation farming and I have moved my wife and two children here,” he said.
“There are several such people that came to irrigation fields as labourers but today they are millionaires mainly because of the potentials and opportunities available for hardworking farmers who work day and night to produce paddy rice during wet and dry season farming.
“The fear of food insecurity in this country is because the government at all levels is not paying the desired attention to agriculture and practical farmers. Taraba State alone has the capacity to produce the greater percentage of foods the country needs,” said Isa Tafida.
He said in Taraba State, the potential of feeding the country with basic food is there but there is lack of infrastructure at the fields.
According to him, the farmers provide everything they need for their farming activities.
“We provide our engine and solar pumping machines, thrasher, fertilizer, chemicals and the bore holes we use in watering our farms. We need the federal government to provide irrigation canals and water channels as it is done in Kano, Katsina and other places in order to ease irrigation farming,” he said.
Isa Tafida explained that farmers were left on their own without experts’ advice on modern farming techniques, which could improve productivity and crop yields.
“We have to hire agricultural experts who advise and guide us on the best seeds to plant at a suitable time, as well as suitable sites to sink the bore hole for watering the rice farms.
Sheka irrigation fields, like any other irrigation fields, has attracted an influx of farmers from across the country but most of them said they might likely stop dry season farming because of the fallen price of paddy and high cost of farm inputs.
“What is happening now is indirectly crippling farming activities in the country and the North in particular because farming, like any other business, is conducted to make profit,” a farmer, Bello Yakubu, said.