Farmers in Taraba State have expressed disappointment over the continued fall in prices of farm produce.
The farmers who brought their produce to the Mutum Biyu Grains Market on Tuesday were disappointed to find that prices of farm produce had further crashed.
Our correspondent who visited the Iware and Mutum Biyu markets gathered that prices of grains crashed to the lowest rates in recent years.
A 100kg bag of maize sold at N20,000 last week has come down to between N15,000 and N17,000 this week, Weekend Trust findings revealed.
Similarly, a 100kg bag of dried cassava sold at the rate of N8,000 last week has crashed to N4,000, while a 100 kg bag of paddy sold last week at the rate of N24,000 has crashed to N19,000.
The price of white beans, millet and locally-processed rice, palm oil and sorghum has crashed across the state.
Bala Dauda Tutare of Gassol Local Government Area of the state told Weekend Trust that he was disappointed with the continued decline in the prices of farm produce.
He said that farmers who cultivated cassava, maize and sorghum last season were the worst affected.
He said he invested N4 million in his cassava farm, hoping to make profit, but after harvesting, the prices of both raw and dried cassava crashed.
He said he harvested 30 tonnes of dried cassava this year, hoping to make money, but the price collapse dashed his hope.
Tutare explained that the price of dried cassava per 100kg bag is N4,000 and he is looking for a buyer who would buy the whole 3,000 bags, even at N3,000 per bag, but he is yet to get any.
The farmer said he harvested only three out of the five cassava farms he has.
Tutare said he would not harvest the remaining two farms till next year when the price of cassava would go up.
He blamed the federal government for importing rice and maize, which he said caused the price of farm produce to crash, adding that the importation of the commodities brought down prices of farm produce.
Another farmer, Suleiman Muhammed, said he lost over N3 million due to the current situation.
Muhammed said that shortly after he harvested his rice and maize, the price of farm produce started falling. He waited to see if the price would go up, but instead, it has continued to come down.
He said if he sold all he harvested, he would not realise half of what he invested in his farms.
“Luckily, what l invested in the farms was my money; l did not borrow or take loans from the bank as other farmers did,” he said.
Silvanus James, a small-scale farmer in Garba-Chede, Bali Local Government Area, said he was avoiding his house because two people he borrowed money from were on his neck asking for repayment.
He said he took loans of N1,500,000 from two people under an arrangement to pay back, including interest after harvest.
However, with the current prices of farm produce, he realised only N500,000 from the sale of the harvest.
James said he was under pressure to repay the loan but didn’t have the money; hence he was avoiding his house.
