October 2. 2011
SUNDAY TRUST
Waiting for bumper harvest with mixed feelings rrom nll!n1a IWI, Kano
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espite the complaillu ma·j e by farmers at the _ bepnnlng o f Ule l11iny seaso n o\'el lack of sufficient fertilizer, Kam ·State may experience a bumper harvest this season. CroFs sudl as m aize, grou ndnuts, beans and gUinea com have all t ho wn signs of good yldds. Some or th e farme rs Inlervie\~d identified some facton that could he ruponsible for the good s lgn~~ Adequate rainfall, fertilizcrand technical iI5~i stancc were amollg them. But sOllie farmers noodlng and thelr InabUill' I" get fertiliur have undo netllfm. llle Acting Cha irman , Commerci U Agriculture Oc\'l!10pllll nt Association, AlhaJi Abdullah l Villar Gadan)'a said farmen arl h oping that It would be • bwnper harvest In Kano this SCHOl L He laid this yea r:, han'el t mlf:lit surpass tllatoftnl yeu from what 15 s« n 011 the farms act~·s the state. According to him, a,lequate I11lnfaU and fertilizer were the main factors.
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W God willing, we shall have a bumper harvC$1 this season. We have been blessed with adequate 111111 and fertilizer," Gadanya noted. Gadanya who OWlIS a groundnut fann at Kwanar SumaiJa noted that acUvities o f the Commercial Agrlcuhure Den'!opmenl Associatio n made il easy for the farmers to access useful infonnati on o n how to impro\·e their fanning activities. COlTOOOl11ting whal Gadanya $aid, another fanner, Malam MUSl, Gwagwarandan said the method adopted in th e distribution o f btUizer h a.s helped tremendously as many h ad access 10 !he famllng inpul at reasonable cost. "Fertili zer was d istributed at ward level and we have about 484 wards in Kana. Each ward was given a traIler load of fertilil.er. This form of distribution m ade It possible for farmers to access th e commodity at a subsidlt.ed price and thereby making It possible for farmen to grow m ore crops," A woman facme r, HaJI)'a Hadlu. Musa rtated that farmen •
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might smile Ihll year. She uid her maJ u farm has grown so good th at she was hoping to reap more than what she go t the previous year, Her only lamenlation was thaI she h ad b ought fertili zer at the exorbitant price of N6,OOO per bag. Although tl,e signs are encouraging, some of th e farme rs are appn:hc:nslve. Malam Danladl Muhammad said he hl5 fears because the rai ns ceased falling for some time in her area.. He added thai tllt flood that followed In Dawakin Kudu local government arca when the TIga dam over fl ooded Is a.,other m inus, He said the flood swept away some farms. leaving farmers wtth nothin g. According 10 him, authorities of the TIga dam had given another warning to people li ving around the area saying there m.ay be another flood, - It m ay be a bumper harvC$ t bUl l have fean. Muhanllllad noted th~t Ir 1I0t for lack or fertillz.cr, the amo unt of rain this season would have made farme rs to grow more food. He lameuled that the rew
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bags o f fertili ser th~t were sold at a subsidized price by the stale government went to members of the Pc:oplC$ Democratic Party (PDP) adding farme rs from opposition parties did not .ccess the input.. I.JlvC$ tigatlons by Su nday Trurt revealed that man)' fanners IVl!re forced to reduce what Ihey intended to grow because: of the high cosl of fertilil.er in the market.. A bag ....70S sold for N6,OOO in the market.. Not all fa rmers could alford that. Farrners continued to lament lack or fertilize r and wonder when govCrTlment can come to their aid rcligiously. It could be recalled that when the state govelTlment m llde th e first supply or the commodity at the beginning of the l11[n y season, abag ..... asshared between ~ree fanners. ru tlley m.de complaints, th e Telponse was thai it was the fint phase of the supply which targe led the small .scale farmers whose need wu not more th an three: measures of th e commodity as explained by Ihe penn anent secretary, ministry or
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agricul ture, Alhaji Muhammad Badawi. He d iscl05ed lhat the next supply would target the medIum and smal1sule far men . Investigations h owever howe\'er revealed that most medium and large scale farmers did not gtt the subsidized fertililerll'hich II'IS sold by the stale gO\lemment al tile cost o f NI,900, Instead, Ihey had 10 buy it at the marke t price orN6,OOO per bag. A farmer who cr..xed anonymity said he had bought fertilizer worth N IOO,OOO at th e cost ofN6,OOO per h1gand el·en at that, it was nol enough fo r his farm. He o bserved tJlat many farmers were forced to culth·ale smaller lands because: of th e high Cosi of(ertWzer In the market. He added tha t i.f gO\lernme:nt wou ld h a\'e the polilical wUl 10 ass ist farmers wi th the fertilite r, he wa.s l ure Kano State alone could produce adequale rood ror the people, SOllie small K ale rarme:rs In villages as gathered, had re~or t ed 10 the useo(!oca.! manure on their famlS,