By Roseline Okakah

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High cost of production has been attributed to the rise in the price of garri.

Cassava farmers who dropped the hint said high cost of transportation,. chemicals and other inputs are responsible for the rise in garri price.

Ondo state Secretary of Cassava Growers’ Association of Nigeria, Mr. Oloruntoba Olufemi , made this known in a chat with The Hope in Akure.

Olorunfemi also blamed insecurity and scarcity of land for its production .

He however pleaded with the government to subsidise farm inputs and give other necessary assistance to farmers including land allocation.

“The government should allocate enough land for us to farm. They should also support us financially with credits and loans. If we don’t receive the necessary support, a rubber of garri may cost N3,000, if the situation is not addressed”.

He called on government to call an emergency stakeholders’ meeting with farmers to urgently deliberate on the way forward.

“Government should also help us with land because we are ready to work, but there’s no enough land for us,” he said.

The Chairman of Akure North Farmers Congress, Mr Tayo Abiodun, attributed the high cost of the product to insecurity suffered from the previous years .

“The Fulani herdsmen did not allow farmers to go into their farms. The little cassava that farmers can process are the ones they cultivated close to their houses. Farmers that were supposed to go into their farm were not allowed to go due to the activities of the Fulani herdsmen.”

This, he noted brought about the high cost of cassava because farmers could not produce enough for the citizenry.

 Another factor responsible for the high cost of garri, according to Abiodun, is the dryness of the soil. “Farmers pay more to labourers who are engaged to harvest the product”, he added.

“When rainfall starts, farmers will be able to plant cassava,” he said.

He urged government to help in provision of tractors as he identified it to be one of the important equipment needed, adding that subsidizing the prices of agro chemicals and inputs will be a greater advantage.