Rice farmers face hard time over rising costs
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Rice prices will continue to soar this year as spiraling costs of inputs and petrol by a high margin has caught many farmers off guard, The Nation learnt.
Across the country, inflation continues to simmer largely due to higher prices of rice and other food items.
Currently, rice sells for between N95, 000 and N110, 000 per bag. Prices of rice have soared due to poor harvests caused by insecurity challenges, high costs of inputs and petrol prices selling between 950 and N1,019 in different parts of the country.
In an interview with The Nation, a member of The National Working Committee of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Alhaji Muhammed Sahabi-Augie, voiced his apprehension regarding the recent increase in rice prices.
He highlighted that this rise could exacerbate the financial burden on the most vulnerable populations, raising concerns about the potential for significantly higher food costs.
According to him, the cost of irrigation for rice farmers using petrol has gone up.
His words: “ A farmer now spends N50,000 a day on petrol to irrigate an hectare of rice farm. He is expected to spend this amount for three months until he harvests the paddy. N50,000 a day is for farmers who have access to a filling station. Those in the hinterland who buy petrol at black market can spend more than N70,000 a day. ”
He expressed the view that the increase in petrol prices has placed farmers in a difficult situation, calling for subsidies to aid those in agriculture. Sahabi-Augie noted that there is a chance that the total production of rice may decline.
According to Sahabi-Augie, there is a potential risk of a reduction in the overall production of rice.He maintained that higher rice prices will play a role in driving food inflation, as farmers depend greatly on inputs to cultivate their crops. The recent spike in petrol prices has also raised their production costs.In addition, many farmers are uncertain whether they will secure profitable prices for their produce after the harvest.Another farmer in Jigawa State, Mai Unguwa Gabarin , had a similar reaction.
According to him, the cost of irrigating a rice farm had already soared considerably.
He noted that a farmer can spend up to N1 million a month for irrigation.
As rice is irrigation dependent, he sees the cultivation of the crop suffering because of the increase in production cost.
For farmers, the latest hike will not only push up irrigation costs further but also increase expenses for harvesting and threshing too.
Recently, the Special Adviser to the Governor of Lagos State on Agriculture, Dr. Oluwarotimi Fashola, has pointed to the erratic rainfall pattern, and hike in the price of diesel as key factors influencing the cost of local rice production.
Fashola cited various challenges, including intermittent drought, soaring fertilizer prices, flooding, security concerns, reduced land cultivation, suboptimal irrigation systems, and escalating diesel costs, as contributors to the increasing costs associated with rice production.He explained that the land area dedicated to rice cultivation last year has diminished at the production level, resulting in a price surge.
Rice farmers face hard time over rising costs - The Nation Newspaper (thenationonlineng.net)
