I’m expecting bumper harvest – Soybean farmer
A soybean farmer in Benue State, Vitalis Tarnongu, is excited that in less than four weeks, he will reap bumper harvest from his soybean farm.
Tarnongu, who beamed with smiles as he inspected his two-hectare soybean farm located along the University of Agriculture road in Makurdi, said the plants were doing very well and would turn out a good harvest which translates to improved income.
He is particularly happy because there would no longer be any reason to bite his fingers in regret at the end of this season, unlike in the past when they suffered lack of improved seed varieties which often resulted in low yield.
“I expect high harvest from my three hectares soybean farm. The plant is two months old now and I will be harvesting it by the second week of October. I got improved seeds from a seeds company. I’m targeting at least 130 bags of soybean from the farm,” he said.
Tarnongu, a medium scale farmer, said that apart from reaping high yields, his socioeconomic fortunes would receive a boost with increased income with which he would better not only the lot of his family but also those in the environs where his other farms are located.
According to him, all the challenges expected to militate against high yields, such as the treated army worms had been handled with the relevant pesticides and best agronomy practices in line with recent researches targeted at enabling farmers like him obtain excellent result.
Before now, there were factors that hindered his production output occasioned by rainfalls which could hardly sustain long duration soybean varieties, hence the need for early maturing varieties of 90 days range.
He said that he sourced the high yield varieties from both Jalingo in Taraba State and another seed company. These, he planted separately on one and two hectares so as to determine which among them was more productive.
“As you can see, both farms, which made up the three hectares of soybean cultivation, are doing well because I paid attention to them from the day of planting. I have overcome any challenge so far, including army worm,” he added.
Tarnongu noted that as a farmer, he had given himself to learning more about improved agronomy practices because availability of good seeds alone can contribute to 40 per cent of harvest and if managed well can lead to increased productivity.
The young farmer expressed confidence that he would increase productivity per unit area and acquire larger land to make more money next year after selling this year’s produce.
He said: “If a farmer has access to improved seed variety and expands his land area of cultivation and with good agronomic practices, this will lead to increased production and harvest.”
Tarnongu therefore appealed to government to provide farmers with affordable and accessible loans in terms of tractors and other farm inputs while creating the enabling environment for them to embark on massive production and also market outlets.
He believes that if the state or federal government lent them necessary support, that would go a long way to increase soybean production in Benue State with most of the youths interested in agriculture being encouraged to engage in it full time.
However, the state chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Mr. Aondona Kuhe, has differed in his opinion as he argued that most farmers already growing soybean in the state would experience poor harvest due to the ongoing heavy rainfall.
“In two weeks, the rains would stop and the soybean already planted in July/August is likely to wither away because of the excess water. The soybean growing now is not going to do well,” Kuhe said.