Farmers groan as sesame suffers poor price in Katsina

Farmers in Katsina State have expressed their disappointment in sesame farming this year due to its poor price.
Poor market price of grains, especially maize and sorghum, experienced in the last two years has forced many of the farmers in the state to adopt sesame in the last season, but it turned out to be a huge disappointment as its price drastically fell due to low market demand.
One of the farmers, Alhaji Abubakar Lawal Malumfashi, said that unlike sorghum, soya beans, rice and maize that can be locally consumed, sesame depends largely on the demands of international markets which seem to be low this year.
He said: “We targeted sesame to maximise profit, especially with the way we suffered poor price of grains in the last two years. The irony is that the price of sesame has fallen to N15,000 per bag from N26,000 – N30,000, while that of grains has significantly appreciated this year. At last, we ended up recording loss, instead of profit, because despite the price, sesame is not as voluminous like maize. 25 bags of sesame can be harvested in a farmland where 50 bags of maize could have been harvested.”
He added that with the unfortunate experience, many of them will cultivate soya beans in the next farming season.
For Alhaji Danladi Mai’adua, a sesame farmer, though he suffered too, this farming season, he still reserved four farmlands for the crop in the next season, saying: “Unlike farmers in Funtua zone, who have better alternatives in maize, soya beans, sorghum and cotton, the arid and sandy nature of our soil leave us only with millet, sorghum as alternatives to sesame cultivation and that is why, despite the loss I recorded last year, I will still cultivate the crop next season with the hope that its market value would significantly appreciate.”
 Alhaji Lawal Magaji Bumbum, who is a farmer and agent who buys sesame directly from farmers for the marketing companies, said the flood of farmers into sesame cultivation in Katsina and Jigawa states has caused a mild glut of the produce that resulted in the fall of its price from N26,000 to between N14,000 and N15,000.
Similarly, the dwindling economy of the country has made many of the marketing companies to withdraw their money from markets, leaving the farmers with no option other than to sell the produce in the open markets at a low price.
Daily Trust had on August 26, 2015, reported on how poor grains prices in the face of high cost of fertiliser, forced many maize farmers in the state to adopt sesame cultivation in the last farming season.