Tomato farmers usually shift to cultivation of other crops when the rainy season sets in because tomatoes do not do well in the rainy season. The result is that tomatoes become scarce and therefore expensive. However, some farmers in Katsina State are making inroads by adopting simple strategies to continue with its cultivation, despite the rains.
Abdullahi Sani, a tomato farmer in Dandume Local Government Area, said immediately the rains set in, many tomato farmers shifted to the cultivation of other crops; especially cereals that were guaranteed in the season. “Only few of us persist in the cultivation of tomato in this season and on many occasions we run at a loss,” he said.
He added that a small basket of the commodity now cost between N4,000 to N5,000, while that of big basket was from N12,000 to N15,000 in the local markets.
Abdullahi lamented how farmers struggled to adapt to the rainy season in the cultivation of the produce.
But for Alhaji Abubakar Isah Yankinda, village head of Yankinda Sabuwa Local Government Area, the story is different as he so far has harvested not less than 77 baskets of fresh tomatoes in this rainy season.
He said the rainy season required a spongy loamy soil that allowed the rain water to easily drain.
“Clay soil is not suitable for tomato farming in the rainy season as it retains water at the surface for long periods thereby making the fruits to easily get rotten.
“Besides all that, the choice of your seeds also matters. Based on experience, UC 82B variety by Starke Ayres Company is more suitable for the rainy season; its fruit is not watery and has a strong skin that is not easily damaged,” Isah Yankinda said.
He added that he sold the 77 baskets he so far harvested at not less than N10, 000 each.
A retired agricultural worker and agro allied dealer in Dandume, Alhaji Murnai Bara’u, said excessive use of urea fertiliser by tomato farmers in the rainy season was a contributory factor in tomato damage.
I refuse to agree that the acidity of rain water is responsible for tomato damage, rather it is the heat generated from the soil by the first rains that affect the crop adversely thereby making the plant and its fruit to rot away.”
To contain the situation, Alhaji Murnai suggested that immediately after the first rains, farmers should water their farms through irrigation as a method to cool the soil.
