Rice farmers in Abakaliki have raised concerns over incessant rainfall, which they say was threatening the 2025 rice production and harvest.
The farmers expressed their concerns in separate interviews with our correspondent on Wednesday in Abakaliki amidst the persistent downpour that had led to flooding, waterlogging and crop losses across major rice-growing areas in the state.
Mr Emmanuel Nwali, a known rice farmer in Izzi Local Government Area, said nearly half of his rice farm had been submerged due to the persistent rain falls.
“The floods have destroyed most of our work, what is left is already turning yellow.
“It has been raining almost daily since mid-July, we may not expect bountiful harvest this season,” Nwali lamented.
Another rice farmer, Mr Chinedu Okenwa said he lost his nursery beds due to flooding around the rice farm leading to loss of resources.
“I don’t know how to make up for the losses because as it stands, I cannot transplant because the nursery has been destroyed.
“We risk poor yield this season and that may cause a sharp rise in the price of local rice next year; we are facing difficult period due to the weather,” Okenwa said.
Mr Alloysius Njoku, a commercial rice farmer said that he has lost a large chunk of his rice farm due to flooding regretting that the development would negatively affect harvest.
“The rains and its attendant flooding have been so devastating that if nothing is done, rice will become scarce and expensive; and everyone will feel it,” Njoku lamented.
Mrs Sylvia Elom, a civil servant who also engages in subsistence rice production regretted that the destruction caused to farm lands due to the heavy rains would affect many households who depended on rice cultivation as major agricultural activities and source of income.
“Rice is the major source of income to the majority of our people who are mainly agrerians; when floods destroy our farms, we are left with nothing,” Elom said.
Meanwhile, Dr Paul Onwe, a private agricultural extension expert said rice was highly sensitive to prolonged flooding and that heavy rains posed serious threats to rice farms especially those planted within swampy areas
He advised farmers in the area to always pay attention to weather forecast before embarking on rice planting stressing that the Federal Government have early warning weather advisory to farmers before the beginning of farming season.
“Submerged fields suffer from stunted growth, nutrient deficiency and fungal diseases,” Onwe said.
Meanwhile, a source at the Ebonyi State Ministry of Agriculture who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that the state was tracking the effects of current flooding on farm lands and was compiling reports from affected areas for appropriate response.
This platform reports that the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) in its weather forecast identified Ebonyi as one of the states in Nigeria to witness flooding in 2025 rainy saeson.
Our correspondent also reports that Ebonyi is one of Nigeria’s leading rice-producing states with rice traders in major Abakaliki markets expressing fears that rice prices might go higher due to fears of a poor harvest. ENDS//
