The magnitude of this year’s dry season rice crop farm harvest threatens to be more of a curse, rather than a blessing if effort is not intensified to woo rice paddy off-takers into production sites like Badeggi, Wushishi etc. “The yield this year has bested initial projections” says Ndajima Kanku, Supervisory Village Promoter (SVP) for Notore, one of the companies working with farmers in the production fields in Niger State. According to Kanku, farmers turned out between 4 to 5 metric tons per hectare, with some reaching 5.5 metric tons.DSC_2437.MOV.Still001

For Alhaji Ndakogi Haruna Kanko, Sarkin Noma of Wushishi, the need for intervention is all the more critical because the farmers need to have money in hand to address the next cropping while also taking care of their immediate needs as well as that of their families. “We need to feed ourselves and cater for our families” Kanko complained, “the longer the harvest is with the farmer, the more exposed we are to exploitation from middlemen”. He however points out that the state is in need of rice milling facilities which will serve to reduce the pressure on the farmers.

http://agronigeria.com.ng/2014/09/03/without-offtakers-niger-rice-farmers-rue-bumper-harvest/#lightbox[4744]/1/

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