ABIA FARMERS LAMENT HIGH COST OF FARM INPUTS

REPORTER: JOHN MADUAGWU

Some farmers in Abia State have raised alarm over the impact the high cost of farming this year will likely have on the cost of food stuff in the market.

They expressed their worry while speaking with Radio Nigeria on their experiences so far this 2022 farming season.

One of them, Mrs. Blessing Okezie, said this year’s farming season had been very challenging as labourers had hiked the cost of rendering services while the price of fertilizer, which she bought for about seven thousand naira last year, had almost doubled.

Mrs. Okezie lamented that farmers would likely find it difficult to realize even half of what they invested after harvesting as the situation was not funny.

Another farmer, Mrs. Gladys Chukwuma, said chemicals she bought for two thousand naira in 2021 were now four thousand naira while many of the products were either fake or the quality highly reduced.

She also expressed concern that what she harvested so far was far lower than that of 2021, prompting many farmers who had similar experiences to further hike the price of their produce by over hundred percent.

Other farmers, who spoke with Radio Nigeria, called on the government to intervene by providing them with improved seedlings, supplying quality chemicals at a subsidized rate and allocating land to them to have more space to cultivate.

EDITED BY CHUKWUBUIKE MADU