Despite some difficulties encountered by rice farmers in Katsina State, early planters have begun to smile to the bank as the state’s harvest begins.
Farmers reported a long dry spell from June to July before the rains returned.
Apart from the issue of rainfall, Haruna Musa of Kahutu in Danja LGA stated that many rice farms had disease and pest attacks.
“The implication of rain seizure includes pests and diseases attacking the crop, which results in low yield at the end of the production.
“The high cost of fertiliser was the reason many farmers in this zone opted for rice and soybeans instead of maize,” he added.
Haruna said the output of rice expected this year might not be up to that of last year considering how the crop suffered various setbacks.
“Now that the harvest has begun, a bag of paddy rice goes for between N17,000 and N19,000 as against the N15,000 it was sold for last year.
“Milling companies have started mopping up the product through their agents in various markets in the state,” the farmer said.
Imrana Abdulkadir, a rice dealer at Dandume market, said there was a likelihood of the price of paddy rice to increase this year.
“The rice milling factories are increasing across the country, making the demand for the products in our local markets rise.
“With this, we are anticipating an increase in its market price this year. Besides, rice as a global food item is the most sought-after product in our local markets; merchants are coming from the east and south to purchase it in bulk,” he said.
Some farmers claimed that they made more money from rice production than from maize because no one expected maize to be sold for less than N30,000 per 100kg, but it ended up selling for less than N20,000.
According to Saidu Nalado Dandume, what he earned from rice this year cannot be obtained from maize.
“I sold 32 bags of paddy rice at the rate of N18,500 which is a total of N592,000 and the reason I planted rice was that I could not afford fertiliser to produce maize. Had it been maize, the best I could get from that farm would be 15 bags, each of which is now sold at between N11,000 to N14,000. Therefore, at best, maize would have given me N210,000 on the same farm.”
According to Nalado, rice farmers in the state have earned more revenue than maize or soybean farmers in the last seven years, owing to the crop’s demand, market price, and yield advantages over the others.
He also lamented the high cost of fertilizer, which has become a major challenge for farmers everywhere.
(Culled from Daily Trust)
