The 2025 Wet Season Crop Production Report released by AFEX has revealed a significant drop in the use of farm inputs due to the escalating cost of farm essentials.
The report revealed that input utilisation declined significantly, with only 62 percent of farmers reporting the use of inputs in 2025, down from 81 percent in 2024.
The report, released during a recent virtual meeting, indicated that growth in Nigeria’s agricultural sector remains constrained by persistent challenges such as rising input costs, limited adoption of improved technologies, and a reduction in cultivated land area.
It also revealed that limited access to finance remained a critical barrier to production, as 48 percent of farmers surveyed indicated lack of access to finance as their primary challenge during the cultivation season.
It added that the persistent unavailability of affordable credit, coupled with high lending rates, left many smallholders unable to procure essential inputs such as seeds, fertilisers, and agrochemicals.
The survey findings showed that a majority of farmers responded by scaling back production. Given that they were constrained both by financial losses from the season and restricted access to credit for new cultivation, total cultivated area declined by 8 percent, while input application dropped markedly, averaging a 24 percent reduction across farms.
It stated that the constraints were further aggravated by erratic rainfall during the 2025 planting season, with 19 percent of farmers reporting delayed or insufficient rainfall that disrupted planting schedules, and 5 percent experiencing excessive rainfall that impeded cultivation. This variability shows the increasing unpredictability of weather patterns, which continues to complicate farming and reduce productivity.
The findings, however, projected a decline in major commodities such as maize, paddy rice, cocoa, and ginger due to reduced input application and weaker farmer investment levels, while soybean, sorghum, and sesame are expected to experience moderate growth, buoyed by area expansion and a gradual shift in farmer preference towards crops requiring fewer inputs and offering stronger market prospects.
It further warned that the escalating input costs and declining adoption rates pose significant risks to productivity growth, farmer profitability, and Nigeria’s capacity to meet both domestic food needs and export potential, saying if unaddressed, the trends could exacerbate food insecurity, widen the yield gap with global peers, and diminish the competitiveness of Nigerian commodities.
Meanwhile, the findings highlighted clear areas for action, including stabilising input supply chains, ensuring policy consistency, expanding access to finance, and promoting the integrated use of fertilisers, improved seeds, and crop protection products.
It stressed that tackling these systemic challenges is essential to unlocking productivity gains and strengthening farmer resilience in the years ahead.
