Drought threatens farming activities in Taraba

The dreams of farmers in Jalingo, Taraba State, and its local councils witnessing bumper harvests are gradually turning out to be a mirage due to drought in the land, The Guardian can report.

The farmers, who are currently facing significant losses following the persistent absence of rain, are in dire need of government intervention.

Their dreams, which have begun to fade away, according to them, are due to the prolonged drought conditions that have enveloped most parts of the state.

The much-anticipated rain, which has failed to drop at the time of filing this report, has left farm crops spread across the state capital and the neighbouring local government councils and communities withered.

Increasingly anxious farmers told our state correspondent that the persistent lack of rainfall in Jalingo and the surrounding areas has worsened their agricultural activities.

The farmers, who are currently expressing their deep concern about the impact of the drought on their livelihoods and the broader economic situation in the state and the country, have begun to seek divine intervention.

A farmer in one of Jalingo’s neighbouring communities, Alhaji Umar Abbare, who spoke with our state correspondent, said his efforts have begun to turn out to be a mirage following the absence of rain.

He said the energy and resources invested in farming this season, coupled with heaven’s refusal to open up, are on the verge of frustrating his hard work.

Most crops planted on his farm and those of his neighbours earlier in the season have succumbed to the dry conditions.

Abbare and other farmers who bared their minds to The Guardian expressed worries that the ongoing drought could further exacerbate the current economic challenges bedevilling the state, North-East region, and the country at large.

Some of the farmers, who are now cap in hand seeking divine intervention, said such action has become necessary as all their efforts to herald rain have yielded no results.

“We have on several occasions approached those so-called rainmakers, but nothing positive came out of them. So the only available option for us now is to cry out to the maker of heaven and earth, the one that gives rain,” said Usmanu Salihu.

The sad situation has not only raised alarms among the farming community in the state, as they grapple with the realities of crop failure and its potential repercussions on food supply and economic stability but also become a source of concern to herders and the entire people of the state.

At the time of filing this report, dreams of experiencing rainfall in the state remain a mirage as worshippers of the two major religions have embarked on prayers and fasting.