The All Farmers Association of Nigeria in Kaduna has called on the government to urgently intervene on input subsidies, warning that farmers are abandoning the current planting season due to rising costs and falling produce prices.

The state chairman, Mohammed Saluhu, said in Kaduna that a sharp drop in farm-gate prices had eroded farmers’ capital and discouraged fresh cultivation.

“The main challenge is the crash in the price of farm produce. Many farmers cannot recover even half of what they invested,” he said.

Mr Saluhu said the situation was worsened by high input costs, particularly fertiliser, which he described as unaffordable for smallholders.

“Last year, fertiliser sold for between N50,000 and N60,000 per bag, while maize now goes for about N27,000. You need to sell about three bags of maize to buy one bag of fertiliser,” he lamented.

He said the widening gap between input and output prices had made farming largely unviable, forcing many farmers to stay away from their fields despite the onset of rains.

“Most farmers are very reluctant to go to the farm because input prices remain high and there is no assurance of profit,” Mr Saluhu said.

The AFAN chairman called on governments at all levels to urgently deploy input subsidies and price stabilisation measures to avert a looming food crisis.

He urged the revival of intervention schemes such as the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative, which, he said, previously made fertiliser accessible to farmers.

“Under the initiative, fertiliser sold at subsidised rates as low as N5,500 per bag, enabling farmers to produce profitably and stabilise food prices,” he said.

Mr Saluhu warned that failure to act promptly could worsen food insecurity.

“If nothing is done, there will be hunger in Nigeria this year because many farmers are not willing to farm,” he said.

(NAN)