Farmers in Kaduna State who recorded losses estimated at N10.16bn during the 2025 farming season have appealed to the federal government for assistance through free or subsidised farm inputs.
The farmers, numbering 2,143 and drawn from the three senatorial districts of the state, said they were pushed to the brink by a nationwide crash in maize prices despite sharp increases in the cost of agricultural inputs.
Their appeal was contained in a letter addressed to George Akume, secretary to the government of the federation; Abubakar Kyari, minister of agriculture; Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the three senators representing Kaduna State.
The letter, written through their counsel, Ehizogie Imadojemu, said the farmers operated under a maize farming scheme coordinated by Rufai Dikko, popularly known as Sarkin Labar, but were unable to recover production costs after harvest.
According to the farmers, the scheme began in 2017 with 1,000 hectares and later expanded to about 10,000 hectares cultivated by 2,143 farmers across Igabi, Soba, Kauru, Zaria and Sabon Gari local government areas.
Under the arrangement, Dikko provides capital, farm inputs and logistics, while participating farmers repay him in maize after harvest and sell the remainder to earn income.
However, the farmers said the 2025 farming season proved disastrous as a 50kg bag of NPK fertiliser sold for about N60,000, while Urea rose to N50,000 per bag.
They added that as a result, the cost of cultivating one hectare of maize increased to over N2m compared with about N1m in the previous year.
According to the letter, with an average yield of 45 bags of 100kg per hectare, each bag needed to sell for about N44,578 to enable the farmers break even.
“Instead, the prevailing market price fell to about N22,000 per 100kg bag, less than half of the required recovery price, resulting in a loss of N22,577 per bag”, the letter stated.
The farmers said from a total output of about 450,000 bags harvested across the 10,000 hectares, aggregate losses exceeded N10.16bn.
“With these losses, the farmers cannot afford the cost of farming next season,” the letter added.
The farmers stressed that unless urgent support is provided, many producers particularly in northern Nigeria may abandon farming in the 2026 season, a development they said could undermine President Bola Tinubu’s food security agenda.
“We appealed for a bailout through the CBN in the form of free or heavily subsidised inputs such as fertiliser and Urea for the 2026 farming season.
“We proposed to reimburse the Federal Government with maize equivalent to part of the value of the inputs at the end of the season.
“Such intervention would stabilise grain production, boost food availability, and deliver political and economic dividends ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“Only by this arrangement will our clients and many other grain farmers around the country return to their farms in the 2026 farming season,” the letter said.
The farmers also requested an urgent meeting with relevant government officials, noting that preparations for the next planting season would soon commence.
Over 2000 Kaduna maize farmers record N10.16bn losses, seek FG, CBN support
