Meet 58 years old Ahmadu Suleiman a crop farmer from Lapai local government area of Niger State. Ahmadu has been a farmer practically from his early years. Since he is not formally educated, farming has been the only thing he knows. At young age, he was farm hand and from doing this form of work, he was able to gather money and start his own farming on their family land. Personally, he has been farming for over 30years. He currently cultivates two hectares of land where he grows soybeans, Maize, Sorghum, Millet, Beans(white) and Rice.
He said farming has provided food for his family and other extended families as it is their livelihood and their only source of income. To him farming is profitable if you follow the right step and do all necessary things at the right time because failure to do what is right at the right time will affect your yield.
When asked about the challenges he has faced as a farmer, he said the issue of good and improved seeds, that when farmers don’t have access to good seeds, they end up using their grains as seeds and these often leads to poor yield thereby affecting the farmers’ pocket. Also, the issue of loans, small scale farmer like himself will like government or other finance institutions to help with loans for farmers in other to expand their farmland.
His advice to new or intending farmers is that farming requires patience and with the right agronomic practices, there will be reasons to smile at harvest.