Flood destroys 2,100 rice farmlands in Kebbi …It is a disaster, farmers cry out
This year’s wet season rice farming in Kebbi State has suffered serious setback as rice and other farmlands have been submerged by flood waters in Shanga and Yauri local government areas.
Many farmers in the two local government areas are still counting losses as rainfed rice farms are washed away, or in many other cases, submerged by flood waters. Over 2,100 farmlands are estimated to have been lost to the floods. A total of 1,300 rice farmlands are said to have been submerged in Shanga and over 800 in Yauri.
Out of the 21 local government areas in Kebbi State, 14 are rice-producing communities. Nine out of the 14: Yauri, Shanga, Bunza, Suru, Argungu,Augie, Birnin Kebbi , Dandi and Bagudo are major rice-producing areas.
Chairman of the Rice Farmers Association (RFA) in the state, Alhaji Sahabi Augie, described it as a disaster and setback to rice production activities in the state.
Augie said, “The farmers lost everything because their crops were either washed away or submerged.”
He further said the farmers “will need to intensify production and get more farms to cultivate during the dry season to make up for their losses.”
Augie explained that they could not make up for the loss by planting other crops like cassava and sorghum because the planting season is almost over.
“This is the risk of wet season farming, as we are often faced with flooding. Many times entire farmlands and crops are washed away. Sometimes, if the rain does not fall as expected, it would result in drought and this causes huge losses. When rainfall is high, it causes flooding. Under dry season farming, all the factors of production are under the control of the farmer,” he said.
Some of the affected farmers in Shanga and Yauri recount their losses. Abdullahi Saidu told our correspondent that it would take time for him and many other affected farmers to regain the losses.
Saidu said, “There is no how I can recover anything from my farm. I lost everything. The water has taken over my five hectares and it buried the rice I planted ago.”
His friend, Garba Nasiru, who suffered a similar fate, said it was the second time he was into wet season farming since he ventured into rice farming.
Nasiru said, “I always plant rice during the dry season. This year’s wet season farming was a bad one. More than 700 farmers in Shanga lost their rice and farms to the floods; it was a bad experience for us.”
He called on the state government to support them by lessening their burden from the losses.
Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State and some members of the state executive council visited Shanga to sympathise with the farmers.
Gov. Bagudu expressed sadness over the incident and assured the farmers of the state government’s intention to assist them in the next farming season. about two months