By: Monday Munkaila, Gombe
Peasant farmers in some rural communities in Gombe State, North-East subregion of Nigeria, have expressed excitement over the much improved harvest they witnessed as a result of embracing new methods, techniques and farm inputs from Sasakawa Africa Association.
The joyous farmers who displayed their farm produces during a tour by Journalists, particularly maize, soya beans, sorghum, rice, groundnuts among many others, explained how embracing Regenerative Agriculture, Market Oriented Agriculture and other farming techniques and methods have really improved their yields and helped their lives within the last twelve months.
In the rural village of Popandital, Billiri LGA and Yateren, Shongom LGA of the State, some of the farmers gave technical explanation of how Sasakawa personnel continuously visited, monitored and trained them on the farming procedure from the beginning of clearing their fields up to the harvest, processing and packaging the farm products for longevity as well as marketing.
Mr Ignatius Alhaji, told our Correspondent how just few ridges gave him two and a half bags of soya beans and four and a half bags of maize. In his explanation, Ignatius was particular about the ridging process and distance in sowing of maize and soya beans in the same farm.
According to him, “I partitioned the farm into four-four ridges and a good distance of sowing for both maize and soya beans in the same farm of twenty ridges and and I harvested over six bags of both maize and soya beans, two for soya beans and four for maize.”
He added that, “We were taught to sow only one seed instead of sowing multiple seeds in the farm as we were used to, and the result is what we are witnessing today. We thank Sasakawa Africa Association for this new initiative and hoping that they come again to introduce new things to us. They’ve convinced us and we’re not regretting.”
Other farmers, Fatai Yusuf Danladi, Mrs Roseline Mela and a few others testified to the positive impact of Sasakawa intervention on a renewed lifestyle that affects their dieting and that of their children as well as improving their financial status. Fatai told our Correspondent how he got more money and changed his old motorcycle to a new one.
Another feature of the Sasakawa intervention is the way the farmers were encouraged to organise themselves into cooperative associations.
Our correspondent particularly observed that there were more Women Cooperative Farmers Associations in Yateren and healthy looking children in the community who turned out during what became a variety food show.
At the end of both activities in the two villages, guests, comprising Sasakawa personnel led by Mr. Ibrahim Garba Fagge, Technical Coordinator, Regenerative Agriculture, SAA; staff of Gombe State Agricultural Development Programme; Gombe State Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry as well as Journalist were treated to sumptuous meals from the farms of the rural communities.
