Hundreds of irrigation farmers using water from Musawa dam in Katsina State are hard times following sudden drying up of the dam. Th e farmers are counting their losses as crops which are at various stages of maturity have wilted because of lack of water forcing some of the farmers to commence early harvest to salvage what they could of the crops.
Th e Chairman of Musawa Irrigation Farmers Association, Alhaji Idris Abdullahi, who confi rmed the sad development yesterday, said that more than 150 farmers were aff ected. Abdullahi put the estimated losses incurred by the farmers to around N30 million, and loss of jobs to about 1,000 farm hands adding that about 150 hectares of tomato, potato, wheat, maize, onion and other vegetables were damaged.
Further, he said that the dam, constructed 60 years ago, was dredged only once, and pleaded with the Katsina State government to come to their rescue. He said that the government should dredge the dam before the rains set in, and support farmers aff ected to cushion their losses.
