Flood has ravaged over 12,000 hectares of rice, cassava, sesame and guinea corn farmlands in nine villages of Malammadori Local Government Area of Jigawa State.
The Councillor representing Tashena Ward, Alhaji Yunusa Bulama, stated this in Malammadori on Sunday, when the lawmaker representing Kaugama/Malammadori Federal Constituency, Alhaji Maki Yalleman, visited the area.
Bulama said the flood, which hit the area on August 16, had affected Tashena, Kadumunbari, Hadyan, Azumu, Kadumantudu, Dowawa, Dososo, Allahyayi and Unguwar-Jamaare villages.
He said 8,000 hectares of rice farmlands were destroyed in the flood, while 4,000 hectares of land destroyed contained cassava, sesame and guinea corn.
In his remark, Chairman of the Council, Alhaji Hussaini Birnin-Kudu, said 5,000 sacks had been distributed to residents to erect sandbag embankment at the bank of Hadejia River in the area. He explained that the embankment would check damages as water level kept rising by the day.
Responding, Yalleman sympathised with the victims of the disaster and prayed God to give them the fortitude to bear their losses. He said he was there to assess the level of damage, adding that his personal support would reach them shortly.
The lawmaker, however, advised people residing along waterways to leave the areas for safety reasons.
Meanwhile, poultry farmers in Plateau State have decried the continued increase in the prices of chicken feed in the country.
Chairman, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) in the state, Mr. John Dasar, made this known yesterday in Jos.
Dasar lamented that the high prices of feed and other costs of production put together in poultry farming did not enable farmers to break even in the poultry business.
The chairman explained that a bag of maize now goes for between N5,000 and N7,000, as against the old price of N14,000. According to him, the drastic reduction in the price of maize should naturally crash the price of the feeds as well.
“Generally, the cost of production in the poultry industry is high but the price of feed is particularly higher. So, now that the cost of maize is low, it is expected that the price of feed should also come down. If you put the cost of feeds and other inputs together, farmers can’t break even,” he added.
THE SUN
