…as FG moves to take action

Nigeria’s 2025 wet farming season was marked by a mix of resilience and strain as farmers battled erratic rainfall, widespread pest infestations, and rising input costs that undermined production gains, according to findings from the 2025 Agricultural Performance Survey (APS) presented on Tuesday in Abuja.

The report, jointly conducted by the National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS) of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS), paints a detailed picture of the country’s agricultural realities, highlighting both progress and persistent vulnerabilities.

Presenting the report, Prof. Yusuf Sani Ahmad, Executive Director of NAERLS, disclosed that more than 19,358 hectares of farmland were affected by pests and diseases during the 2025 wet season, resulting in estimated yield losses of 22.5 percent in the affected areas.

He listed key culprits as fall armyworm, rice blast, bacterial blight, streak virus, cassava mosaic, yam nematodes, cocoa black pod, and cotton smut, noting that virtually all agro-ecological zones were impacted.

“Maize, rice, millet, cowpea, cassava, and tree crops were the most affected,” Prof. Ahmad said, as he warned that the wide epidemiological spread of these infestations underscores the urgent need for stronger pest surveillance and early response systems.

Despite improved fertilizer availability through government interventions, input inflation remained a major challenge.

The survey recorded a 19.5 percent surge in NPK fertilizer prices, from N43,500 to N52,000 per 50kg bag, while urea rose by 10.1 percent, reaching N43,500.

These sharp increases, concentrated in the North-West, North-Central, and North-East, have placed smallholder farmers under intense cost pressure. “Affordability, not availability, has become the core problem,” Prof. Ahmad observed.

Fuel prices, logistics costs, and rising production expenses compounded the burden, with maize and soybean production costs soaring by 29.2 percent and 36.8 percent, respectively.

The survey also revealed mixed results in farm mechanization. While the North-West and North-Central zones recorded the highest numbers of functional tractors (808 and 793 units, respectively), reliability issues persisted in the South-West and South-South, where a significant number of units were non-functional.

“Mechanization access remains uneven and heavily skewed toward certain regions,” Prof. Ahmad noted, as he stated that postharvest losses, especially in the South-West and North-Central, continue to erode farmer incomes despite gains in crop output.

Irregular rainfall, localized flooding, and climate-related shocks also featured prominently among 2025’s challenges.

The APS found that cultured fish production declined by up to 35 percent in the North-Central and North-East, regions also grappling with insecurity and environmental degradation.

While the South-South zone maintained relative stability in fish production due to its natural fisheries base, the South-West showed inconsistencies linked to volatile aquaculture conditions and weak data tracking systems.

Reacting to the report, Senator Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, acknowledged that the season’s performance reflects both progress and warning signs.

“The 2025 APS findings show encouraging growth in major staples and a welcome decline in food prices, but the persistent challenges, from high input costs to pest outbreaks and postharvest losses, demand renewed action,” he said.

Kyari commended farmers’ resilience and the collaborative efforts behind the survey but emphasized that the Ministry would institutionalize a Dry Season Agricultural Performance Survey to complement the wet season report.

“This will make agricultural planning a year-round, data-driven exercise,” he said, as he noted that the Ministry plans to boost local fertilizer production, expand climate-smart agriculture, and modernize mechanization services to improve productivity and resilience.

The Minister also underscored plans to recruit more extension agents, deploy digital advisory tools, and strengthen public–private partnerships to close information and input gaps.

“We are determined to ensure that Nigerian agriculture becomes more productive, inclusive, and resilient,” Kyari stated.

Despite modest growth, with rice production up 2.66 percent and maize by 2.0 percent, the 2025 wet season reaffirmed the sector’s exposure to climate stress, price volatility, and infrastructure gaps.

Yet, as the APS shows, it also demonstrated the capacity of Nigerian farmers to adapt, if backed by consistent data, coordinated policy, and sustained investment.

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