Some farmers in parts of Dutse LGA in Jigawa have begun planting their crops following heavy rainfall recorded in the area.

Checks on some farming communities on Sunday showed that farmers were busy tilling and planting crops on their farms. The farmers were seen planting assorted crops on their farms after a downpour on Saturday, which lasted for about two hours in the area.

The farmers had cleared and applied local manure earlier on the farms.

Amadu Abubakar, a farmer in Gandu village, said he was planting groundnut, millet and sorghum. Other farmers, Muhammad Umar Abdullahi Abdussalam and Tunga Abdussalam, were also seen planting the same crops on their respective farms.

The farmers said the level of rainfall recorded in the area encouraged people to start planting. Another farmer at Shaiskawa village, Hussain Abdulkadir Hussaini, said he and other farmers in the area were motivated to start planting by the volume of rain recorded.

Shahudi Garba, a farmer in Baranda village, said the majority of farmers in the area had planted on their farms due to the volume of rain recorded on Saturday.

Mr Garba added that farmers in the area had planted sesame, millet, and sorghum, saying that all farmers in the community were ready for this year’s cropping season.

“In fact, some farmers here in Baranda village had already planted since last two weeks, while others planted after Saturday’s rainfall,’’ he said.

However, some farmers, Bashir Ahmad and Ilyasu Muhammad, said they were ready to plant but had to wait for bull cart owners to till their farms before they could plant.

“Our major challenge now is that most bull cart owners are not readily available as they have to finish with their farms before ours, even though we pay them,” they said.

Despite the volume of rainfall recorded, several farmlands have yet to be prepared by their owners for planting.

(NAN)