Effects of climate change are of multi-dimensional and therefore differs from one region to another. A survey conducted recently in the North-Central and Taraba States shows that the farmers were affected differently.
Farmers in the zone narrated different experiences from the effect of irregular rainfall patterns during the 2021 farming season as the cropping season rolls to an end.
Some of the farmers said the rains impacted their crops positively as they were already recording bumper harvests. Others, however, submitted that the rains had ceased too early and has made them experience poor yields.
Experts admitted that the irregular rainfall patterns which subsequently affect harvest in these parts of the country can be attributed to the global problem of climate change.
In Benue State, farmers said that the rainfall recorded in the state in 2021 planting season affected their crops positively which led to a bumper harvest for most of them.
A yam farmer, Mrs. Mbaoron Tyoakaa said, “I am yet to commence full harvesting of my crops but I am sure that I will have better yields at the end of the day.
“I have harvested only a small portion and the harvest is good,”
Another farmer, Mr. Terdue Ijir, said that he had a very good harvest of soybean from the 2021 cropping season.
“I have harvested all the soybean that I planted; though I am yet to thrash it I know that I will get more bags when compared to the 2020 harvest.
“I am grateful to God for the harvest because he provided us with enough rainfall,” Ijir said.
One of the farmers who is into soybean and rice production, Mr. Titus Atondu stated that the bumper harvest experienced in the state had also affected the price of their produce.
Atondu said that before the bumper harvest, 28 kilogrammes bag of soybean was sold for N35,000 but now it is N28,000.
“Also, a 28kg bag of rice was sold for 32,000 and some N30,000 but now it is sold for N25,000 and N24,000 respectively for the same size of the bag,” he said.
The Director, Agricultural Services in the state, Mr Thomas Unongo also commented that farmers in the state were given seeds that could withstand drought and all types of infections, and that helped them to have a bumper harvest.
He said “They were also given water-resistant crops and they planted, so, no matter the amount of rainfall, they will still have a bountiful harvest.
“Most farmers in the state will have bumper harvest because most of them applied the ”Good Agronomic Practices.”
Similarly, farmers in Taraba have expressed delight over the bumper harvest recorded in the 2021 cropping season due to the steady rainfall enjoyed in the state throughout the season.
Alhaji Aliyu Suleiman, a maize farmer, said that the adequate rainfall had put smiles on the faces of farmers as it resulted in greater yields of many crops.
According to Suleiman, even the beans that he normally mixes with maize has done exceedingly well due to the steady rainfall witnessed during the cropping season.
In Kogi, a farmer, Mr Wale Oloruntoba, said farmers in the state had also recorded bumper harvests.
According to Oloruntoba, everything they planted such as benniseed, beans, yams, soybeans and groundnuts, yielded very well. He added that guinea corn too has been growing well.
Mrs Esther Audu, the National President, Women in Agriculture Cooperative Federation Ltd. said that the rainfall had impacted positively on farm produce and food items in the 2021 cropping season.
Audu said that under normal circumstances, the impact of the rains on the cost of food would have been great and favourable. She however lamented that the reverse was the case because farmers could not cultivate many crops as a result of fear of possible attacks by herdsmen and kidnappers.
