Farmers In Bwari Anticipate Bumper Harvest
Some farmers in Bwari Area Council of the FCT have expressed optimism that they would have a bumper harvest at the end of the current farming season even without using fertiliser.
The farmers spoke in separate interviews with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.
The farmers in Guto, Baran-Goni and Zuma communities told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that they are satisfied with yield of their farms so far.
One of the farmers in Baran-goni community, Mr Akuso Paul, told NAN that a lot of farmers had difficulties accessing fertiliser in the district.
According to him, the government has yet to make provisions of the farming input since the planting season commenced, which he said was normally provided at subsidised rate.
However, he said that the progress of the crops in the fields was a miracle as most of them were doing well even without the inputs.
“Most of the crops are growing well without fertiliser, other farmers around here can testify to this progress.
“I think it is the grace of God and we believe that with what we have seen so far, this year’s harvest would be more than last year’s.
“Initially, we were worried that the rains did not begin on time but when it did, it was irregular.
“We were also worried about the unavailability of good fertilisers like NPK 15/15 in the markets and up till now, the government is yet to provide us with fertilisers, even those who sell in the markets are waiting for it.
“This is because the government supply is more reliable and affordable.”
Paul said that he planted yams, corn and groundnut on his farm and was hopeful all crops would yield well.
Similarly, Mr Baba Musa, a farmer in Guto community said that even though the rainfall was late, it was friendly to the crops.
Musa who planted yam, sorghum and okra expressed delight at the way the crops grew because he did not apply fertiliser.
According to Musa, he recently purchased a bag of Urea and NPK 20/10/10 each at the cost of N7,500 and N5,500 respectively, adding that the quantity will not do much on his large farm.
He said that although the crops were doing well so far, they would do better with enough fertilisers.
Mr Yunana Aboyi, a sorghum and corn farmer in Zuma 1 village also told NAN that he was expecting to reap between 80 and 100 sacks of both crops this year, in view of the potential output of his farm.
He said that the yield of his farm has so far been very impressive when compared to that of the preceding year.
He, however, called on the government to encourage farmers by making timely provisions of essential farm input, saying it would go a long way to reducing hunger in society.
NAN gathered that one of the reasons for the delay in provisions of the input to the farmers was the handing over to the new administration taking place in the council.
These changes, especially the transfer of Heads of Departments in the council, slowed down the entire process. (NAN)
