A rice farmer from Difa Community in Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area of Gombe State, Hassan Abdulateef says he makes at least N2.5 million annually from cultivating rice.
Abdulateef who spoke in Difa Community, on Monday, said that cultivating the commodity had been his only occupation for the past two decades.
He described rice farming as one lucrative aspect of agriculture that youths could venture into for self employment and empowerment.
“I have been cultivating rice during dry season for the past twenty years in Difa Community and this is the only job I do to care for my household.
“On yearly basis I make enough from cultivating rice through irrigation but the high cost of inputs has always depleted the profit.
“I make over N4 million during this period, sometimes it is even up to N5 million, but after taking out the money for fertilisers and security on my farm, I end up with N2.5 million.”
The 40-year-old farmer decried the incessant hippopotamus attacks on his farms, which necessitated his decision to engage hunters to repel them.
He said in the three months between planting and harvesting his crop, he spends N600,000 to pay the hunters to repel such attacks which, he said, usually occurred at night.
Abdulateef appealed to Gombe youths, who have access to water bodies, to leverage the resource to engage in irrigation farming to empower themselves, instead of waiting for white-collar jobs.
He further urged the State Government to support youths living in communities close to water bodies with the necessary irrigation facilities and inputs to enable them to engage in dry season farming.
He also urged the State Government to address the hippopotamus attacks on farmlands to help farmers minimise losses recorded on yearly basis.
NAN
