Rice farmers celebrate bumper harvest despite little rainfall in Kano

Rice farmers in the Dakasoye settlement of Garun Malam Local Government Area of Kano State, jubilate over the bumper harvest recorded, despite the shortage of rain they witnessed in 2021.

The farmers revealed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at Garun Malam.

The farmers revealed that the bumper harvest was possible through their use of improved seedlings, as seedlings had boosted their production by about 25 per cent.

A farmer in Garun Malam, Mr Iliyasu Garba said he was among the few farmers that resisted the improved seedlings when it was introduced to them through the Kano Rural Development Authority (KNARDA).

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Garba explained that with massive awareness and training, he decided to try the seedlings during the 2021 rainy season and the experience was amazing.

“I used to work on 1 hectare of land and produce about 15 to 20 bags of rice, but this year I farmed the same hectare and harvested 25 bags,” he said.

Mr Muhammed Rashid, another large scale farmer, said the intervention had exposed him to large commercial farming.

Rashid acknowledge that the improved seedlings were cost-effective and easier than using traditional seedlings.

Another rice and maize farmer at Samawa settlement, Mr Murtala Idris said when he accepted the seedlings; other farmers he invited to test it thought it to be a wasteful venture

“I used to harvest 50 bags of rice but this year when I tried the improved seedlings, I got about 70 bags so far,” Idris said.

He appealed to farmers in the state to adopt the use of improved seedlings, in order to have multiple harvests and reduce the cost of production.

The Sasakawa Africa Association through the KNARDA introduced the improved seedlings to farmers.

The introduction of the seedlings by KNARDA was aimed at boosting agricultural production and improving crop value chains, under the Kano State Agro Pastoral Development Project (KSADP), which began in 2020.

The five-year project is a partnership of the Islamic Development Bank, Lives and Livelihood and the KNARDA, executed by Sasakawa Africa Association.

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