I couldn’t believe it when I was named Kebbi’s best sorghum producer —Hajiya Abdullahi, Varsity Dep. Registrar

HAJIYA Kulu Abdullahi, a Deputy Registrar at the Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto, is the wife of the vice chancellor of the university, Professor Muhammad Abdullahi. Her passion for farming is as great as her love for academics, having been born into a family of farmers

In the farming circle of Kebbi State, she is fondly called Sarauniyar Manoma (Queen of Farming). Her farther, Alhaji Ali Namani Kotoko, who died in 2014, was the Sarkin Noma (King of the Farmers). At the close of the last farming season, Hajiya Abdullahi produced 781 bags of sorghum from two of the expansive farms she inherited from her father in the Wasagu area of Kebbi State. For this feat, she received the best sorghum producer award from the state government this year.

Barely three years after Hajiya Abdullahi ventured into farming, she became the largest producer of sorghum in Kebbi State. The “farming queen” has over 500 hectares of farmland, an inheritance from her father, at Kurumashi village, along Bena-Wasagu Road. There are no fewer than 71 farm settlements within the farmland and about 400 farmers cultivating and tilling it to earn a living on a daily basis.

She gives a trajectory of her farming experience: “When my father died in 2014, I resolved to immortalise him by going into farming. I started with sorghum that year. I planted late and the output was very low but I was not discouraged. I made up my mind to learn from the mistake I made. My brother, who was my farm manager, advised me not to go into it again because of the poor harvest but I made a remarkable improvement that year. I made more than twice what I made in the first farming season.

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“The third year was even better than the second year. In the fourth year, which was 2017, I achieved what I produced in the first, second and third years about five times over. First, my passion for farming is to immortalise my father. Secondly, I was moved by the policy of the Federal Government to diversify the nation’s economy through agriculture. I see agriculture as an economic venture that I can retire to. It is a business that is permitted by the Civil Service Rule, so I see it as a means to augment my income. I realised it is not easy, doing something new, because one would be faced with many challenges. I got more information on the production and other challenges that are associated with sorghum production and I studied government policies and it worked out for me.

“As a child, I was, to some extent, involved in some farming and agricultural activities, particularly planting and harvesting. Although I spent a lot of time in school, I used to invest my money in the agricultural economy such as buying and selling. I was not fully involved in actual production because my father, who was the Sarkin Noma in the country, discouraged me from farming. Despite his passion for farming, he was not happy with some government policies on agriculture and he felt I would not enjoy farming.”

Her success story in sorghum production started when she visited Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Agriculture Extension Research Centre in Zaria to get some improved and water-resistant seeds.

“I improve the fertility of the farm by using chicken manure and I adopted new practices to improve my planting population and increase my yield. One of my farms, 20 hectares, which gave me a yield of 291 bags of sorghum in 2016, gave me a yield of 781 bags in the 2017 farming season.

“I was really delighted. In fact, when I received the phone call to inform me of the government’s award as the best sorghum producer, I couldn’t believe it. I wondered if there were no other people who did better than me. I was happy; it felt as if my father was back. I realise I am not there yet as there is still so much work to do. I could realise much more than I did in sorghum in other crops such as rice, soya beans and maize.

“My target in this year’s farming season is to produce 3,000 bags of sorghum. I know there will be challenges but they won’t stop me from achieving that target. I know there are challenges of funding, inputs and others but I will overcome them. I am impressed by some government policies on agriculture but there is still a lot to be done. I am sure my father, in his grave, would be proud of me today. He might not be surprised about what I have achieved because he brought us up as very hardworking and united family. He won Nigeria’s best farmer award during the agricultural show that was held in Benin in 1982. Former Senate President, Joseph Wayas, presented the trophy to him and he remained the Sarkin Noma (king of farmers) of Nigeria until he died in 2014.”

Now, Hajiya Abdullahi makes a case for farmers in Kebbi State; she wants the state government to support them.

“In agriculture, the peasant and large-scale farmers are the stakeholders. What the peasant farmers get in terms of funding and input is too meagre. They needed fertiliser but they only got more NPK and less of urea, which was very expensive last year. These days, there are so many small modern farming tools that the farmers could use with ease to improve on their yield and only government can supply them. The farmers also need credit facilities they can easily access and improved seeds that can give them high yields. They also need tractors, threshing machines, pesticides and insecticides. Government should also help to organise markets for their produce so that they can sell at profitable prices. Labour is a hidden cost. It costs so much. If there are planters, farmers can plant their crops with precision with adequate plant population to give them better harvests. One of the major challenges at the farm is poor access roads. At my farm, which is 500 hectares, accessibility is a problem. It is difficult accessing the over 71 farm settlements there. Government needs to clear the area and make the settlements accessible and make it easy for them to transport their produce to markets because bad roads sometimes cause wastage for farmers.”