Bayelsa Rice Farmers Lament Flood, Pest Attacks

• Rice farmers in Bayelsa State are concerned about impending floods and pest attacks on their crops, making it difficult to access their farms
• They urge the government to provide pesticides and processing facilities to boost rice production in the state

Rice farmers in Bayelsa State have expressed concern about impending floods and pest attacks on their crops.

They expressed concern about rising water levels in the surrounding rivers, pleading with the state government to take action to prevent their farms from being washed away.

Mr Ovieya Sini, Managing Director of Ovieya Rice Farm, told Daily Trust that the rising water level had made it difficult for workers to access his farm by canoe.

Aside from flooding, he said, constant pest attacks and the lack of functional processing facilities in Yenagoa made life difficult for rice farmers in the state.

He urged the government to provide them with pesticides and processing facilities so that they could produce rice that could feed Bayelsa and other Niger Delta states.

Another challenge here is how to convey the farm produce to the upland for procession. You know; our terrain is riverine, but if the government can assist us with boats and other palliative measures, I think we can produce rice that can feed Bayelsa and other states. Our land is good for rice cultivation.

I have invested many resources already in the farm, but if the government can assist with pesticides, and tackle flooding in our society, we will have a bumper harvest, he said.

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