Kano onion farmers predict glut, demand storage facilities

Stakeholders in onion production in Kano State have revealed that lands being used for dry season farming recorded an increase during the 2023 dry season farming.

Findings have also shown that already, harvest has commenced and indices have shown signs of bumper harvest.

Alhaji Auwalu Idi Kumbotso, a 56-year-old farmer said onion production was not that good last year.

He said that this year, onion production increased by almost 70 per cent as many tomato farmers in some areas ventured into it due to some issues.

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According to him, judging from the ongoing harvest, there are strong indicators that there is going to be good yield.

“The injection of hybrid seed of Takahe onion into production under the Kano State Agro-Pastoral Development Project (KSADP) has helped the farmers. Although the crop didn’t do as expected last year, the newly injected hybrid has helped our farmers this year. Indicators have been showing a very captivating result in the harvest,” he said.

Outlining the characteristics and advantages of the newly introduced hybrid of onions, an agronomist, Lawal Basheer, revealed that the newly introduced Takahe onion seed injected into the system would ensure an increase in production.

“Takahe onion is an average maturing variety that produces medium to large sized bulbs that are slightly granex in shape and has a very good tendency of being stored for a long time using various available storage methods. Unfortunately, onion farmers lack effective storage facilities that can store and preserve the commodity,” he said.

Another onion farmer, Musa Abdullahi Tokan, noted that indicators showed that there was going to be a serious glut of onions in the market due to the mass production, and as such, the price of the commodity may negatively be affected.

“A lot of farmers have grown onions this season. And with what we are currently observing based on the harvest, there is going to be a serious onion glut, and this will negatively affect the price, which I suppose will not be good for us,” he lamented.

However, experts have attributed the possible glut to lack of operational planting calendar for farmers, as well as very poor storage facilities.

According to an agriculturalist, Adam Muhammad Aminu, recent findings have revealed that more than 60 per cent of the total harvest is being lost due to poor storage systems, among other salient issues.

However, succour seems to be on the way for onion farmers as the state agricultural project introduced aerated storage facility, a newly adopted technology of storing onions. The new technology was introduced earlier this year at Badume in Bichi Local Government Area of the state, with the hope of extending it to all other onion-producing parts of the state.