For many farmers, the 2018 farming season is a memory of the experience of 2012, when massive flows destroyed thousands of hectares of agricultural land.
Currently, flood catastrophes across the country are sending alarming signals, which are still being received in rice production, will be canceled, since the biggest producing belts have the worst success.
There is already fear among stakeholders in the rice value chain that intense flooding across the country could cause rice rice shortages if appropriate measures are not taken by the relevant authorities.
Reports from large production sites across the country show that many rice farmers are devastated by the destruction of their investments by flows.
Our reporters, who monitored the situation in some rice-producing countries, report that the farmers who worked on the seasonal season who planted their rice along the river banks had the greatest impact.
In Kebbi, it is estimated that more than 2,100 rice fields have been lost to floods in the local government areas of Shanga and Yauri. A total of 1,300 rice fields were shipped to Shanga, while about 800 were affected in Yauri.
Alhaji Sahabi Augi, Chairman of the Rice Farmers Association Board, described this incident as a disaster and failure in rice production activities in the state.
He said that farmers lost everything because their crops were either washed away or submerged, adding that farmers would need to intensify production and get more farms to grow during the dry season to compensate for their losses.
In the state of Edo, the report states that 280 hectares of rice farms on the banks of the Ovia River in the south-western region of Ovia were destroyed by flooding.
It was said that the rice farm was partly funded by an additional financing project, FADAMA III; and it was affected by nearly 300 farmers in the different clusters.
According to the farmers, 70% of rice fields damaged by floods.
The President of the Iguomona I clan, Ms. Bola Amen Aieoma, said that they began to harvest when the flow came.
Ijeoma said they expected to get five tons per hectare after using Faro 44 for improved seed.
It was also reported that several communities, including Udaba, Oukkpo, Agbaburu, Osomegbe, Ukkeko, Ugochi and Anebbett, were affected by flooding with several destroyed agricultural land.
Another farmer, Mr. Nigeria Afomed, said that some of the residents resorted to harvesting prematurely to avoid total loss.
In the state of Kwara, reports say that several rice lands were washed away by floods in local areas of the state of Edou and Patigu,
One of the affected farmers, Usman Nda-Lade, told our Editor Agrik that 80 percent of the rice farms in the coastal areas of Shong, Lafiagh and Patigi were washed away by streams, saying that the incident this year was the worst in recent years.
He said that if support is not provided for agriculture during the dry season, if necessary, there may be a shortage of rice in the state next year.
Similarly, the head of the Adamada Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) says that food security in the state is under threat after 5,000 of its members have been affected by flooding.
Chairman Maduva said that reports from various district offices of local authorities, especially those located along the banks of the Benue River, showed that flooding flooded many agricultural lands.
The head of state in Kano RIFAN recently raised the alarm that hundreds of hectares of rice plantations were washed away in five districts of local state administration.
The chairman of rice farmers in Alhaji Abubakar Haruna Aliyu said that the flood is so devastating that some farmers have lost their lives.
The local governments of Varava, Gabasawa, Minjiber, Gaya and Davakin Kudu were named as affected areas.
“Many farmlands, most of which are rice paddies, have been washed away by the recent floods due to heavy rainfall recently experienced. We received alarming reports that some of our members have lost hundreds of hectares of rice plantations and animals. Life has also been lost, ”he said.
Daily trust reports that the majority of rice farmers in the state are within the federal government’s CBN Anchor Borrower program.
Concerns about possible rice deficiency
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, head of Audu Ogbe, expressing concern about the situation, said that the country could face a food crisis if farmers who lost their crops, floods in different states would not be sustained again during the dry season.
The head of Ogbeh said this when commissioning the molecular facility of the National Council for Agricultural Seeds and the "Field of Seed Day" in 2018 in Shed, Abuja.
The minister regretted that the recent flooding had caused many farms to be submerged and completely destroyed in Jigawa, Kebbi, Kogi and other places, stressing that if the government does not offer farmers to return to their farms as soon as possible, the nation can there is another problem.
He, however, expressed hope for the release of two varieties of rice floods – faro 66 and 67 – noting that he would solve this perennial problem.
The minister, who also regretted the scale of destruction on the farms of Kosharis Rice in Anambre by a flood, said that the government was saddened by this event and the huge loss of investments incurred by the owner.
Minister Ogbe said: “We must find a way to help farmers affected by the flood; places like Jigawa, Kebbi, Anambra and Kogi were heavily affected. Farmers lost everything they planted.
“We also hope that as soon as the rain stops, we encourage farmers to replant, so that the residual moisture in the soil plus irrigation gives us another crop by the end of December or early January, otherwise we will seriously get into trouble for rice, millet, sorghum and corn next year ".
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