New Telegraph

Saving farmers from fertilizer drought, pests attack

In Ezza South/Ikwo federal constituency, Ebonyi state, Agriculture is the life wire of the people, they depend solely on it for survival.

 

The people cultivate cassava, rice, yam, maize and other cash crops in large quantity. People from their neighbouring Cross River communities come to the constituency to buy food produced from their Agricultural activities in large quantities.

 

The people cultivate cassava, rice, yam, maize and other cash crops in large quantity. People from their neighbouring Cross River communities come to the constituency to buy food produced from their Agricultural activities in large quantities.

 

But lack of fertilizer to boost soil fertility for bumper harvest and pests that have been destroying their crops especially rice, since 2016 have remained their major setback with hunger and food scarcity as its attendant effect.

 

The soil where they cultivate crops is fast losing nutrients and that is their only strength and most of them who are financially challenged, find it difficult to produce enough for their families, also for commercial purposes. Hunger became a big problem in their communities.

 

A retired Senior Police Officer from Amudo community in Ezza South local government area, Prince Egbeoma Oregbe confirmed the level of hunger in his community to New Telegraph.

 

He said “we need poverty alleviation, we are hungry. We are farmers and we don’t have money, we are asking government to come and assist us in the area of fertilizers.

 

We are all predominantly farmers and we need fertilizers to increase our productivity and have something to eat because hunger remains our greatest problem.

 

We seriously need fertilizers to boost production and ensure food sufficiency.” In Ekpaomaka, Ikwo precisely, the farmers are badly challenged following pests that have been destroying their rice farms since 2016 which has led to low productivity of the commodity.

 

The people said they are losing more than N50million annually to the pests.

 

Ekpaomaka, one of the neighbouring communities with Cross River state, is one of the communities in Ikwo, Ebonyi state that produce rice in large quantities. But the people said they no longer produce for personal consumption and in large quantity since pests started destroying their rice farms in that 2016.

 

They said their children have all dropped out of schools because of lack of money to continue training them.

 

The people said before pests started attacking their rice farms, each farmer that cultivates rice on a plot of land, makes over 15 big drums of rice through which they process and sell to solve their financial needs.

 

They lamented that they now produce half drum of rice on a plot of land which they said have brought hunger and general hardship to them.

 

One of the rice farmers, Okpozu Chukwuma told New Telegraph in the community that pests have made many rice farmers in the area not to continue farming.

 

“We have vast arable lands for rice cultivation and other crops but the problem we have is pests. We need insecticides and pesticides because pest have dealt with us, it has eaten up our crops especially rice.

 

“Since 2016, pests have continued to eat our rice and we have not been able to get the pesticides that can kill them. Since that year, we have been having low production and hunger.

 

This year, we are afraid that pests will attack our rice and that is why we started rice cultivation this year as early as month of May when we supposed to start by July. We are very much afraid and we want  help to save us from pests this year.

 

“Once the pests attack the rice, the leaves will dry off and there will be no fruits on it. Since that 2016 the pests started, we lost not less than N50million yearly to pests.

 

We are known for massive rice production but pest has remained our obstacle and it is causing us lots of problem including hunger because we no longer produce what we eat, we have low productivity generally,” he said.

 

Another farmer, Mrs. Chinyere Andrew said, “pests have destroyed all our crops. We no longer cultivate rice the way we used to do since pests started destroying the farms.

 

We used to get 15 big drums of rice in one plot of land but we are making only half drum now. It has affected us badly and we need assistance in the areas of pesticides that can kill the pests.

 

We are dying of hunger as a result of this situation, we have no money to solve our needs because it is from this rice cultivation that we use and solve our financial problems when we have bumper harvest. “All my children; five boys have dropped out of school because of pests which have adversely affected me.

 

I make money through rice cultivation/production. It is from it that I train my children in school but now, they are out of school because no money for them to continue. We need pesticides and fertilizers. Fertilizer is no longer on the reach of the common man.

 

A bag is now N15,000 and most of us cannot afford it,” she lamented  Worried by the situation, the member representing Ezza South/Ikwo Federal Constituency, Ebonyi state, in the House of Representatives, Hon. Chinedu Ogah distributed more than 2000 bags of 50 kg fertilizers and millions of naira to farmers of the constituency with beneficiaries of the gesture cutting across political parties.

 

The distribution came at the right time as the farmers were already in their Agricultural activities for this year’s farming season.

 

Distributing the fertilizers, Ogah said the distribution was in fulfillment of his promise to always assist the people during farming season.

 

He explained that his passion was to eradicate unemployment and improve agricultural activities of the constituency to ensure food sufficiency.

 

“All I want is for our graduates to have jobs and for our farmers to have better yield as reward for their efforts.

 

The fertilizer if applied early on their farms will help them to have enough to eat and sell in order to solve their problems.

 

“We have already moved a motion for establishment of college of Food and Science Technology in Ikwo so that most of the food items we produce can be packaged for food sufficiency.

 

It will also help to boost the economy of this country; this bill has been passed by the National Assembly.

 

The beneficiaries commended Ogah for the gesture. One of them, Chief Patrick Ogale who is from Noyo-Alike in Ikwo said  “these fertilizers will do great things for us, it will give us bumper harvest.

 

Our lands are no more fertile but with these fertilizers, we will experience bumper harvest and food sufficiency and hunger will reduce drastically in our community and the two benefiting local governments.

 

“The result of this timely fertilizer is that we will have high yield this year. We will have enough to feed our families, also for sale to improve our economic status. Our prayer as always is for God to protect him, bless him the more and protect him against the enemies of progress”.

 

Another beneficiary, Mrs. Felicia Anga from Amudo/Okoffia, Ezza south was full of joy for the gesture.

 

She explained that the cassava which she cultivated in large quantity this year, was not doing well and that the fertilizer she was given by Ogah has saved her from hunger that would have befell her and her family.

 

Her words, “the cassava I cultivated is not doing well at all, it is lacking nutrients.

 

I have been wondering what I will do to make the cassava farm look good but with this fertilizer, the problem have been solved. I am going to apply it on the farm immediately to change its condition because the cassava is not looking good. I will reserve some for rice because I am a complete farmer. Mrs .Azuka Chinyere was another beneficiary. She said she had used the little money she had to cultivate cassava, rice and yam and that some of the farms were not doing well and needed fertilizer to boost soil fertility. She disclosed that she was worried that there may be hunger in not only her family but her entire community because according to her, other farmers were also experiencing what she was passing through in her own farms. The elated woman said with the distribution of the fertilizers to the farmers by the federal lawmaker, their worries are over. “This fertilizer has done everything for me this year. I will apply it in my cassava and rice farms for good harvest,” Azuka said.

 

For Monday Nwideogu another farmer beneficiary, the distribution of the fertilizer came at the right time. He said that farmers suffer a lot to get fertilizer for their crops but that this year, they didn’t experience any difficulty in getting it.

 

“This fertilizer will assist in reducing hunger in the two local governments of Ikwo and Ezza south. Before now, you must suffer to get fertilizer but it has now been made easy through Hon. Chinedu Ogah who has given them to us free of charge.

 

The distribution is very timely because this is rice cultivation season. This is general farming season, a time everything cultivatable is cultivated,” Nwideogu stated.

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