High costs, low prices affecting Bauchi farmers says Commissioner

Bauchi, Jan. 14, 2026 (NAN) The Bauchi State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Ilyasu Gital, has decried the deteriorating conditions farmers face over soaring prices of farm inputs in the state.

Speaking in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Bauchi, Gital described the situation as “uncommon, unusual and very pathetic.

He attributed the challenges to soaring prices of the inputs, as well as the drastic fall in market value of agricultural produce.

He said that these factors had made farming largely unprofitable.

According to Gital, many farmers can no longer afford critical inputs such as fertiliser, pesticides and improved farming technologies required to achieve optimal yields.

“The high cost of inputs has forced farmers to drastically reduce their usage; A farmer who ideally should apply for up to ten bags of fertiliser, now manages with just four or five, leading to a significant reduction in output,” he said

He warned that low yields combined with poor market prices had pushed farmers to operate at a loss.

“If you don’t apply the right quantity of inputs, your yields will be abysmally low; When that is combined with low prices at the market, the farmer doesn’t even break even, It is a serious minus,” he said.

The commissioner recalled that although inputs had been expensive in previous years, farmers were compensated by favourable prices for their produce.

He lamented that the balance no longer existed, revealing that a bag of produce that once sold for about ₦100,000 now goes for roughly ₦30,000, amounting to nearly a 60 per cent loss.

The commissioner blamed the price crash partly on the continued importation of commodities such as maize, rice and soybean, in spite of strong local demand.

He argued that excessive imports undermine local farmers and discourage domestic production, adding that the Bauchi State Government was engaging the Federal Government to address the issue.

Gital further noted that low food prices does not necessarily translate to better living conditions for farmers, as the cost of essential non-food items remains high.

The commissioner, consequently, urged farmers to consider dry season farming, which he described as more capital-intensive but far more profitable with potential yields which are four times higher than those of the rainy season. (NAN)