Hunger Looms As Kaduna Farmers Abandon Cultivating Grains

*Switch to vegetables amid soaring farm input costs

*Expert Warns that Nigeria may depend on imported grains

By; SANI ALIYU, Zaria

Farmers in Kaduna State are abandoning staple food crops to vegetable production, due to high cost of fertilizer and other agricultural inputs.

Prof. Muhammad Faguji Ishiyaku, former Executive Director, Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria said the trend posees a risk on food security.

The university don said the cost of inputs has not reduced and farmers knew from the onset that cultivating crops such as maize may not be profitable that is why they are shifting to pepper, chilli soybean and cowpea.

“The shift in cultivation pattern may further push the country to be dependent on foreign supply of grains for our food security thereby jeopardizing the economy,” he warhed.

According to him, when there is low supply of grains next year; the cost of food commodities will relatively shoot-up and many of these farmers who did not produce enough for their families would also suffer.

Prof Faguji Ishiyaku urged the farmers to balance the two (producing veggies and food commodities) towards reducing food deficit in the country.

“It is still not late; farmers can still plant maize, sorghum, and soybean among other food commodities,” he said.

Malam Ahmed Abubakar, a farmer based in Zaria said the cultivation pattern has changed from planting crops such as maize, sorghum and rice to cultivation of onions, chilli, pepper, okra and other vegetables.

He attributed the shift in the cultivation pattern to the crash of the prices of the crops at commodities market which was hinged on the alleged importation of grains into the country.

He said presently the cost of a 100kg bag of maize at the commodities market ranges between N38,000 to N45,000 depending on the variety.

“A 50kg bag of a Granular Diammonium Phosphate (GDAP) fertilizer is N75,000 and 100kg bag of maize, sorghum or paddy rice cannot buy a 50kg bag of GDAP fertilizer.

“ 50kg bag of NPK 20:10:10 is around N40, 000; NPK 15:15:15 is over N50, 000; while Urea is N40, 000 in addition to other production costs such as herbicides, land preparation among others.

He therefore, observed that only 100kg of pepper or soybean can fetch you two bags of fertilizer hence the shift from cultivating crops to vegetables.

Abubakar said the scenario poses a serious risk to the food security drive of the federal government, stressing that Nigeria needs at least eight million tonnes of maize while it produces 6.5 million tonnes.

According to him, there is a gap of 1.5 million tonnes of maize, adding that Kaduna State is one of the major producers of maize in Nigeria and the sudden shift in cultivation pattern would further jeopardize the situation.

He noted that the agricultural extension agents are advising that farmers have up to July 16 to plant maize, while from July 16 to July 31 farmers can transplant sorghum and rice.

Abubakar appealed to the government at all levels to make subsidized fertilizer and other inputs available to farmers towards encouraging production.

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