No fewer than 2,143 grain farmers in Kaduna State have appealed to the Federal Government for urgent intervention in the form of free or subsidised inputs, following losses estimated at N10.16 billion during the 2025 farming season.

The farmers, from the three senatorial districts of the state, said they were pushed to the brink by a sudden crash in maize prices nationwide, despite unprecedented increases in the cost of agricultural inputs.

Their plea was contained in a letter addressed to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Minister of Agriculture, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, and the three senators representing Kaduna in the Senate.

Written through their counsel, Ehizogie Fidelis Imadojemu, the correspondence detailed how the farmers, operating under a maize farming scheme coordinated by Rufai Muazu Dikko (popularly known as Sarkin Labar), were unable to recover production costs after harvest.

According to the growers, the scheme, which began in 2017 with 1,000 hectares, has expanded to about 10,000 hectares cultivated by 2,143 farmers across Igabi, Soba, Kauru, Zaria and Sabon Gari council areas.

Under the arrangement, Sarkin Labar provides capital, inputs and logistics, while farmers repay him with maize after harvest, and sell the remainder for income.

However, the planters lamented that the 2025 season proved disastrous. The farmers said a 50kg bag of NPK fertiliser sold for about N60,000, while urea rose to N50,000 per bag. As a result, the total cost of cultivating one hectare of maize climbed to over N2 million from about N1 million for the preceding year.

With an average yield of 45 bags of 100kg per hectare, the farmers said each bag needed to sell for about N44,578 to break even. Instead, the prevailing market price crashed to about N22,000 per 100kg bag. This is less than half the required recovery price, resulting in a loss of N22,577 per bag.

From the total output of about 450,000 bags harvested across the 10,000 hectares, the farmers calculated an aggregate loss of over N10.16 billion.

The farmers cautioned that unless urgent support is provided, many producers—particularly in northern Nigeria—may abandon farming in the 2026 season, a development they say could undermine the President Bola Tinubu administration’s food security agenda.

They are therefore requesting a bailout through the CBN in the form of free or heavily subsidised inputs such as fertiliser and urea for the 2026 farming season.