By Nurudeen Alimi
FARMERS in Benue, Niger, Nasarawa, Taraba, and other states have started preparing their fields for cultivation with the start of the first rain.
This comes amid complaints that a severe financial shortage is weighing heavily on many of them, making it challenging for them to buy seed, herbicides and other inputs.
Although the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) had predicted early rain this year, experts advised farmers not to sow their crops with the arrival of the first rain, which is predicted to start in April or May in the central regions of the country.
While most farmers in Benue, Taraba, and Nasarawa began planting their yams on March 10 with the arrival of the first rain, others are now building their heaps in preparation for planting as soon as the second rain falls.
According to the chairman of the Yam Farmers Association in Benue State, Mrs. Scholarstica Amua, some people have already planted while others are in the process of doing so.
“Those who prepared their heaps in September last year have already planted. Those of us who didn’t make it are just clearing our lands. We have the challenge of inputs – are so costly—herbicide, fertiliser, and labour. Additionally, Comrade Aondongu Saaku, state chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), emphasised the necessity for those who planted in September to heavily mulch their heaps so that as the rainy season gets underway, the crop would germinate more quickly and avoid going bad from the intense heat.
Many farmers in Nasarawa, however, reportedly switched from early planting to late planting due to worries about animal destruction of heaps, extreme heat, and theft.
