Plateau yam farmers jubilate over bumper harvest, price hike

Yam farmers in Shendam Local Government Area of Plateau State are jubilating over bumper harvest and hike in price of the crop.

The farmers are also rejoicing over the current price of the product in the market as some tubers were sold above N1,000 each, depending on the size.

Daily Trust on Sunday reports that Shendam is one of the LGAs in the southern part of the state that cultivates yam in large quantity with buyers often trooping in from different parts of the country to buy the crop for onward supply.

Our correspondent reports that farmers in the area had last year lamented poor harvest of the crop due to shortage of rainfall in the southern part of the state, leading to loss of millions of naira.

This year, however, the yam farmers said there was bumper harvest, explaining that adequate rainfall has significantly contributed to the abundant harvest.

Baga Abdullahi, a farmer in Shendam town said “Honestly, there is good harvest this year because I harvested more tubers of yam compared to what I cultivated last year. It is a good development. We thank God for the harvest.”

Khalid Ibrahim, another farmer in Yelwa, a town in Shendam LGA, said “We are happy with what we are experiencing today. We have tubers of N800 and even above that depending on the size.”