The taste of money: ‘Even without govt support, we are surviving’

GODWIN ENNA reports that farmers in Nasarawa State are making a lot of money from cultivating watermelon even without government backing, adding that the success story could, however, have been different had financial support been extended to the farmers by government and microfinance institutions.

WATER melon, according to Wikipedia, is a fruit with the botanical name Citrullus lanatus, a plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae which has its origin in West Africa. It is cultivated for its fruit and has two broad variants.

In 2016, global production of watermelons was 117 million tons, with China alone accounting for 68 per cent of the total production. Secondary producers with more than 1 per cent of world production included Turkey, Iran, Brazil, Uzbekistan, Algeria, the United States, Russia, Egypt, Mexico, and Kazakhstan. Watermelon fruit is 91 per cent water, contains 6 per cent sugars, and is low in fat. Its medicinal qualities had been well documented by nutritionists.

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Though it is available all over the country, it is mostly planted in the northern part of the country and distributed to every other areas.  Moreover, it only takes two months for it to mature; that is from April to June. From that time on, farmers often smile to the bank as traders descend on their farms to transport the fruits to their destinations all over the country in big trucks.

Nasarawa State is one of the largest producers of water melon in the country and this is not because the farmers had the support of government or any finance group. If the farmers had achieved any form of progress today and improved on production quantity, it was basically through personal efforts.

Despite this success, however, the farmers are not happy because they are aware that with government’s financial and material support things could have been far better than what obtains.

For now, most farmers are not even looking forward to government assistance as they believed that it had failed to come in the past but they have their bumper harvests to make them happy. In Agyaragu Tofa, Angwan Tiv and other parts of Nasarawa State farmers are smiling to the bank on a daily basis, praising their personal efforts for the success.

Arewa Live visited some of the farms in Agyaragu Tofa and Angwan Tiv communities, about 10 -15 kilometers outside Lafia, the state capital to  interact with some farmers and traders in the watermelon business.

Joseph Amos, a resident of Angwan Tiv, told Arewa Live that he has been cultivating maize, rice and watermelon for more than two decades. However, throughout the two decades, this year’s water melon harvest has been the largest so far. This, he said, has been without any form of external support.

In the absence of the much-needed government support, Amos has been sourcing his own fertilizers, improved seeds and other farm inputs from the public market.

“As you can see, all these watermelon that people are parking into big trucks are from my farm, they will been taken to Bayelsa, Delta, Enugu and Lagos states

“The transport fare alone of that truck is about N500,000 just about the cost of what is inside the truck. Although, our gain depends on the nature of the market but to be truthful the business is very profitable and is something to hold on to

“Our biggest challenge is that we always hear of government releasing many trucks of fertilizers and tractors but we never see the products. Our cultivation of rice, watermelon and maize was done through individual efforts without assistance from either the federal or state governments. We thank God for the big harvest this year which is beyond comparison,” he said.

Amos further explained, however, that with the launch of the sale of fertiliser at the rate N3,500 by the state government directly to farmers, there is hope that things might change for the better and farmers would be able to expand their scope of crop cultivation in the state.

Amos also pleaded with the state government to also provide farmers with other inputs in order to boost the economic fortunes of the state. He added that government should ensure that farm inputs intended for farmers get to them directly without any middle man

“We thank God for helping us to supply between six and ten trucks full of watermelon in our personal farms without any stress. We want government to bring back the old method of distributing fertiliser to farmers right from the warehouse, and not allowing businessmen and politicians to hijack the product and then sell it to us at a high cost.

“Places like Kano, Kaduna and other northern states, are into that and you find out that government is giving out fertiliser at cheap and affordable price to the right target,” Amos said.

James Agivye, the chief of Angwan Tiv, in an interview with Arewa Live said he is happy with the zeal and passion that his people have for planting watermelon, noting that the zeal had not diminished despite lack of government support

“They still never gave up in what that they know how best to do. I feel so excited about what they are doing because the product used to help us a lot. We only plant it from the month of April and harvest it in June. And we do have a high yield of harvest any time we embark on the production.

“The production of watermelon is very simple; we first buy the latest improved seedlings imported to the country and plant. After a few weeks, we spray pesticides on the whole farm to prevent pest and simultaneously weed the grass; we then apply fertiliser, and I tell you in two months time crops are ready for harvest.

“I am calling on other communities in the state and elsewhere to embrace cultivation of watermelon. It is a very profitable venture and we want farmers who don’t know how to plant it to learn and begin to plant it. We are always ready to teach them how to do it,” he stated.

Also Dahiru Yusuf, another watermelon farmer in Agyaragu Tofa village who has been planting the crop for over 10 years, said he has never experienced such a bumper harvest like this year’s, while urging government not to desist from assisting farmers  with modern facilities to reduce the stress of doing farm work manually.

“In as much as one has made up his mind to plant watermelon, one should expect great profit in the business, most especially if one can find someone who could assist to take care of the farm regularly.

“I have a lot of things to show from cultivating the fruit; I have been able to build a house, buy a car and do so many things.  I cherish watermelon farming and I will continue to do it with or without government assistance.

“However, our hope is to see government coming to help us in this business, for the benefit of the farmers and the people of the state,» he said, adding that his major source of fertiliser is cow dung.

A businessman who trades in watermelon, Saliu Usama, said he left his hometown in Katsina State to Nasarawa State to buy watermelon, stating also that this year is blissful for him as he is making a lot of profit.

“In the last six to seven years, anyone in this business has been making lots of gains, and I tell you farming this crop is very simple because it can be cultivated within 70 days.

“However, the challenge we are facing in the production (of watermelon) is pest attack on the plants on the farms, but in as much as we apply pesticides on the plants, by God’s grace, one is expected to harvest good fruits within these two months of production

“Cultivating watermelon doesn’t require too much fertiliser; with just a single application of the substance on our farm, it is enough to yield desired result.

“Over the years, we have had tremendous achievements in this business. As things are, we are now transporting this product to Anambra, Onitsha, Delta, Lagos, Kaduna, Abuja, Yobe and Katsina. In fact, we do take it to Niger Republic when it is scarce in the far northern states

“We thank God for the blessings in the business even though we don›t get assistance from government, but we are pleading that they should help us with loan facilities to boost our efforts,” he pleaded.