{"id":2342,"date":"2026-07-26T01:45:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T00:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=2342"},"modified":"2026-07-26T01:45:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T00:45:09","slug":"rising-cost-of-inputs-labor-threatens-crop-production-in-abraka-as-farmers-call-for-government-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/?p=2342","title":{"rendered":"Rising Cost Of Inputs, Labor Threatens Crop Production In Abraka As Farmers Call For Government Support"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Martha Obi<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crop farming remains one of the major sources of livelihood and food supply in Abraka, Delta State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From expansive cassava farms to backyard vegetable gardens, agriculture continues to sustain thousands of residents, market traders, and the large student population of Delta State University (DELSU).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, farmers say the sector is under increasing pressure due to the rising cost of farm inputs, labour shortages, poor storage facilities, and limited access to credit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Francis Chiamaka, an Industrial Training student in the Department of Crop Science, said farming remains profitable but has become increasingly difficult for small-scale farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The cost of everything has gone up. A bag of NPK fertilizer that sold for \u20a620,000 two years ago now costs between \u20a635,000 and \u20a638,000. Improved maize seeds, herbicides, and insecticides have also become much more expensive. If you’re not careful, the cost of inputs alone will consume all your profit,”<\/em> she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She identified labour as another major challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Young people are no longer interested in farm work. Many prefer commercial motorcycle riding or POS businesses. When you eventually get labourers, they charge between \u20a63,000 and \u20a64,000 per day. Land clearing alone can cost up to \u20a650,000 per plot,”<\/em> she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chiamaka said she cultivates cassava, maize, pepper, tomatoes, okra, cucumber, ugu, and waterleaf, noting that Abraka’s fertile soil and favourable rainfall support crop production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She explained that cassava and maize remain staple crops, while tomatoes and pepper are profitable cash crops supplied to DELSU students, restaurants, and food vendors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to her, vegetable farming also generates steady income because demand remains high throughout the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She described farming as labour-intensive, requiring regular weeding, fertilizer application, and pest control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If you neglect your farm for just two weeks, weeds and insects can destroy everything,”<\/em> she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To reduce risks, she practices mixed cropping by cultivating maize alongside cassava and combining pepper with vegetables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond production costs, she listed climate change, poor road networks, inadequate storage facilities, and difficulty accessing loans as major challenges confronting farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Government loan programmes exist, but many farmers either don’t know about them or cannot meet the conditions required to access them,”<\/em> she explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite these challenges, Chiamaka maintained that agriculture remains one of the most effective ways to combat hunger and unemployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She called on the government to subsidize fertilizers and improved seeds, provide low-interest loans, and establish storage facilities to reduce post-harvest losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also urged tertiary institutions, including DELSU, to establish demonstration farms where young people can learn modern farming techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Don’t wait until you have millions before going into farming. Start small, join a cooperative, adopt improved farming methods, and see agriculture as a business rather than a survival strategy,”<\/em> she advised.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Martha Obi Crop farming remains one of the major sources of livelihood and food supply in Abraka, Delta State. From expansive cassava farms to backyard vegetable gardens, agriculture continues to sustain thousands of residents, market traders, and the large student population of Delta State University (DELSU). However, farmers say the sector is under increasing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"iawp_total_views":9,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,14],"tags":[31,561,489],"class_list":["post-2342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abrakametro","category-trendingnews","tag-abraka","tag-agriculture-in-abraka","tag-crop-prices"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2342"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2344,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2342\/revisions\/2344"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediaconversation.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}