How sesame, melon farmers made fortunes in Taraba

Sesame and melon farmers in Taraba State witnessed bumper harvest despite disruption in rainfall, which affected the growth of many crops.

These two cash crops, it was learnt, were not affected by the abrupt rainfall cessation experienced in many parts of the state.

The crops, which take about two months to mature, were grown as an alternative source of income for the farmers before other crops are harvested.

Weekend Trust gathered that more farmers engaged in sesame and melon farming in recent years following high demand and good price.

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The two crops are usually planted as soon as the first rain of the year is recorded due to their drought resistance nature.

A farmer, Ibrahim Yakubu, told Weekend Trust that in the last three years, more farmers have engaged in the farming of sesame and melon crops because of their good prices and patronage.

“It was in 2021 that prices of the two commodities went up, with a 100kg bag of sesame selling for N110,000 while 100kg bag of melon hit N80,000,” he said.

He said farmers planted the two crops annually to get more money and reinvest in the production of other crops like maize, groundnut and rice.

Yakubu also said that unlike previous years when pest invaded farms, this year, despite the shortage of rainfall in the beginning of the farming season, pest invasion on farms was not recorded and that contributed to bumper harvest.

Alhaji Uba Saidu, a large-scale farmer in Garba-Chede told Weekend Trust that he harvested 70 bags of sesame and 100 bags of melon.

He said last year, he harvested 40 bags of sesame and 30 bags of melon from the same farm. He revealed that he made over N10 million from the two crops.

He said last year, many sesame farmers were kidnapped and made to part with money they made from the sale of the two commodities.

“Last year, many farmers were kidnapped across farming communities when bandits took over several villages. Sesame and melon farmers were their target.

“This year, all these communities across Bali, Ardo-Kola and Gassol local government areas where most of the farmers are located, are free and safe from the bandits. We appreciate the efforts of local hunters, and thank them for flushing out the criminals from our area,” he said.

Ali Maihula, another farmer, said the bumper harvest witnessed had helped many farmers who lost their maize and rice farms as a result of drought to recover.

Further findings revealed that this year, a 100kg bag of sesame and melon is sold at N114,000 and N67,000 respectively, and so many farmers are smiling to banks because of the good price and the bumper harvest witnessed.

Another farmer in Bali Local Government Area, Mustapha Sule, said the trend of producing more cash crops than food crops has serious implication on food security.

He also said more farmers have abandoned food crops farming, which is why there has been shortage in food supply, especially rice and maize.

To address the issue of food insecurity, Sule said farmers must be sensitised on the need to balance their activities between cash and food crops.