The price of paddy rice has continued to rise in Benue State, unlike the reported crash in other states since the reopening of the Nigeria-Niger border.
Some farmers, millers and dealers in rice who spoke to our correspondent in Makurdi, worried that the continued hike in price of paddy may spell doom for production in the coming season except steps are taken urgently to reverse the trend.
They said the price of paddy, which stood between N65,000 and N72,000 per bag in the past months, depending on bag sizes, had steadily risen in the past few weeks on a daily basis, even in local markets to now sell between N76,000 and N110,000.
A big rice farmer, Vitalis Tarnongu, expressed worry that the steady rise of paddy would portend danger for smallholder farmers, who may not be able to buy seed for production in the next planting season.
Tarnongu said, “I saw it on newspaper headlines that the price of paddy was dropping, but that’s not so in Benúe State. At the last Gbajimgba market day (few days ago) in Guma Local Government Area, it was even sold at N95,000 per bag. At Naka market in Gwer West Local Government Area, rice is about N110,000 per bag.
“There is no place in Benúe the price of rice has gone down. The high cost of input might be responsible for the increased price.
“As we speak, there is no input that farmers can access at N4,000. There is no Glyphosate that farmers can access at N4,000, they are all above that amount per litre. And cost of production for a hectare now is being charged at almost N65,000 as against N35,000 before.
“What this portends for rice farming is a great danger ahead as most peasant farmers wouldn’t be able to cultivate even one hectare of rice, except with government’s intervention. As I speak to you right now, the rice seeds I have is being sold at N1,800 per kilogramme.”
Similarly, a rice specialist and chairman of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) in Benue State, Fidelis Iyorumgwa Akosu, explained that paddy had been on the rice in the state because of the high cost of diesel and other expensive inputs in the market.
“The price of rice paddy is going up in Benúe. They are now selling at N500 per kilogram. Depending on the quality, some are selling at N76,000 per bag. Paddy is available but the price is too high. Things are too expensive, but people are making efforts.
“Diesel is N1,700 per litre, so the issue of fertilisation becomes high. People are thinking about N50,000 per hectare for plowing alone. And travelling cost is very high. So, when one goes to buy rice as high as N76,000 and still talks about transportation, you can imagine what would happen. I produce seeds and I am selling at N1,200 per kilogram. My price is moderate; some people are selling higher.
“The bag size we have is about 125, 126 or 130, which is selling at N76,000 per bag. The federal government is expected to make things safer for people to have inputs at subsidised rates, but how can they do that when everybody is a farmer,” Akosu said.
In the same vein, a rice miller, Ichor Michael Tersoo, maintained that the high cost of paddy had forced many entrepreneurs to close shop in recent times because of thin profit margin.
He said, “Presently, paddy is something else; not that it is scarce but the price is so high that the profit margin is very low for millers to breakthrough. A bag of paddy is N80,000, and when you add transportation to your location, it would rise to N83,000 and N85,000.
“And one can only get three tins of rice from a bag. Currently, a tin goes for N30,000. When you look at the profit you are getting, it is nothing because you have to parboil, get firewood, water, pay those parboiling and mill. The profit margin is low, so not many people can cope.
“The bags also vary. There are bigger bags that could give one about four and a half tins of rice, that’s the one going for N95,000 and above. We are hoping that by June, the price may drop a bit as we move toward the planting season when people begin to sell their produce to use for farming.
“The other day, I saw it on news that it was dropping in other states, but it is not reflecting in Benúe. We are just hoping that it comes down here (Benúe) too. Even now, people are not so much buying paddy because of the high price; not everyone can afford it.”
