Yam farmers in Katsina State have identified lack of proper orientation as well as insufficient capital as major bottlenecks they face in expanding the cultivation of the tuber crop in the state.
The farmers said high cost of yam seedlings as well as herbicides deter them from going into increased yam farming in the state.
Daily Trust’s investigations revealed that for over 70 years, farmers were cultivating yams in commercial quantities mostly in Sabuwa, Dandume, Faskari and Funtua local government areas of the state.
The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)’s recent report indicated that Nigeria is one of the leading producers of yam in the world, listing Benue State as the largest of the 14 major producing states in the country.
Katsina State was not listed among the 14 states.
A long-time farmer in Sabuwa LGA, Alhaji Isah Zubairu Damari, observed that the recent Federal Government’s effort at making yam an export commodity would boost the morale of yam farmers in the state to redouble effort in its farming.
“If the major producers like Benue State can have their way to export yams abroad, it is an ample opportunity for us to also maximise our production even if just to meet the demands of our local markets,” the farmer noted.
He added that yam production was an age-long business among farmers in Damari, which he said had spread to other parts of Sabuwa, Dandume, Faskari, Funtua and Bakori LGAs.
His words: “Based on the accounts of our parents, we have been into yam farming here in Damari for the past 70 years. Over these years, many farmers from neighbouring LGAs picked it up from us. Before adopting the type of yam, ‘Mai Saķi’, we were planting almost all varieties of yam but after some tests the ‘Mai Saķi’ variety proved to be more suitable and durable for our soil type and temperature, and we originally sourced the seedlings from Zaria in Kaduna State.”
Another farmer, Mal. Iliyasu Abubakar, said besides organic manure which they apply on their farmlands, they also apply NPK 15:15:15 on their farms.
“To get the desired yield, one has to apply NPK 15:15:15 at least three times all through the season. Before, we use to weed about nine times but nowadays with the introduction of herbicides two or three weeding is enough,’’ he disclosed.
He added that with sufficient capital, yam production gave huge returns everything being equal.
“Approximately, a hectare of farmland can give a farmer not less than N500,000 from the tubers alone, while about N800,000 can be generated from the seedlings. In a nutshell, a farmer can generate N1.3 million from a hectare in a year,” he said.
On why some farmers in other LGAs were yet to embrace yam farming, Alhaji Kabiru Zubairu Damari, said “yam production is capital intensive, a farmer needs at least N200,000 to start with a hectare, this is because of the high cost of seedlings, herbicides and sometimes labour.”
He added that to generate interest in yam production in more farmers in the state, “Government needs to intervene with soft loans and orientation programmes so that the southern part of the state comprising 11 LGAs can be a yam hub in no distant time.”
Daily Trust observed that the farmers usually practiced mixed cropping where they plant yams alongside rice, soybeans or okro to maximise profit.
Dandume and Funtua markets are the main places where farmers sell their yams to buyers from Katsina and Zamfara states.
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