Watermelon farmers in Bara, a community in Kirfi local government of Bauchi State have lamented a poor harvest of watermelon at the end of the 2022 farming season following the early cessation of rainfall.
Bara has over the years established itself as the watermelon cultivation hub in not just immediate Bauchi state but northern Nigeria as well.
Umar Muhammad, a Deputy Chairman of the Watermelon Market in Bara, told Daily Trust that watermelon farming had witnessed poor yield and several farmers could not recover what they have invested.
“Initially, we planted the seeds during consistent rainfall but excess water did not allow them to germinate well. Later, the abrupt cessation of rain struck the plants before they matured, while the scorching sun disrupted the little fruits at their development level which affected the growing level and sizes of the fruits.
He explained that watermelon takes 65 days from planting to harvest, but in this season, it took up to 95 days to be harvested and in smaller sizes, a situation that led the farmers to count losses.
For Adamu Sarkin Yamma Bara, another watermelon farmer and trader, several farmers invested their whole capital but the result was counterproductive.
he said the development had discouraged several farmers from venturing their savings into watermelon farming, “Only a few courageous farmers have started clearing their farms in preparation for the dry season production. The number of farmers planning to grow watermelon for the dry season has drastically reduced.”
He maintained that the problem affected not only Bara, “I recently travelled to Shelleng in Adamawa State, Biu in Borno State, Buni Yadi in Yobe State, Ningi; the situation was still the same.
Yusuf Ali Bara, another farmer in the community noted that several farmers planted the seeds twice at the beginning of the season because of the intermittent rainfall at the beginning of the planting period.
“We had to plant again in early September with the expectation that the rain would last till the end of October. But despite this, we ended up with very poor yield because of the sudden cessation of rain.”
Kirfi’s Bara village is the watermelon hub where residents mainly engage in its cultivation during both the rainy and dry seasons.
