Some farmers in Rivers State have lamented that the constant rains across the State will pose hazards on their farming activities.

Some of them who spoke to Kristina Reports in different parts of the State bemoan the incessant rains, pointing out that the effect on their crops could be unquantifiable.

A nutritionist and farmer, Golden Aliawite told Kristina Reports on Thursday, July 25, 2024 that the constant rains pose a threat to economic activities, lamenting that during the rains, farmers are constantly faced with attack from pests and rodents and in most cases, their crops also get rotten.

“During the rains, we’re faced with a lot of challenges. This is the time we are attacked by rodents and pests. Our crops get diseased and infected with bacteria.”

“These include maize pests and diseases such as stem borers, grasshoppers, corn smut, leaf spot, maize streak; yam tuber beetle, yam shoot beetle; yam mosaic, yam leaf spot, yam rot; in cassava, variegated grasshoppers, rodents, bacterial blight, and angular leaf spot.”

Aliawite added that erosion is another problem that farmers are faced with during rainy seasons and it makes their crops not to yield abundantly.

“Another issue we face is erosion. Especially when you are farming on a sloppy land, it can cause erosion unless you make your ridges very well and then there’s what we call mulching.”

“You have to prepare it especially for your yam plants. The firmness of the ground and the texture of the soil also matters. These are some challenges we’re faced with”.

Speaking, Gift Akujobi, a resident of Etche LGA, said that despite the fact that this is a season where farmers enjoy their produces, there are still impediments to their activities.

“This is the time where we experience so much weeds. If you weed a farm, in the next one week, you still have to go back there and weed because there’s much water in the ground”.

Akujobi added that the rains do give farmers the opportunity to visit their farmers regularly to see how their crops are doing.

Speaking also, a woman who preferred anonymity also lamented on how they suffer theft activities.

“Thieves dey worry us well well. As e b say rain dey fall, sometimes when you come farm, you go see how they go uproot our cassava, yam, cut our corn, steal our vegetables. Them dey do us strong thing oooo.”