By  Fatima Muraina

Cocoyam farmers in Ondo state have declared that they have lost millions of naira to drought which drastically affected production.
The state Chairman of the Association, Mrs. Rachael Folashade Adebayo disclosed this yesterday in an interview with The Hope.
Adebayo said farmers would have started harvesting their produce since July and August in a normal situation if the rain had fell during the rainy season, but lamented that the reverse was the case.
“Just few farmers could come up with some produce and they are those who planted near the river and swampy areas as well as those who planted inside their cocoa farms,” she said.
This, she said, will make very few of the cocoyams available and the price will be very expensive unlike what it used to be.
Adebayo who appreciated Ondo state government for its assistance to Cocoyam farmers said such assistance should be made earlier to meet the farming season, saying the COVID-19 assistance came a bit late because they have concluded farming season when it came.
Farming, she noted, is timing and that government should try to work along with it to meet production.
She also charged government to expedite actions in solving the challenges of Fulani herdsmen which she described as unbearable to farmers.