For some days I was sick and unable to visit our farmlands or even go close to it. The hope of the common man here is his farm and now that it's raining people go to the farm so that they won't die of hunger when it's time for harvesting.
Last year we didn't farm groundnuts so we basically had to buy things like groundnut oil and the rest. I don't eat groundnut, boiled or fried, it doesn't go well with me. I don't know how my body is but it reacts on my face and makes me cough when I consume it. Because my mom and dad are aware of that basically we sell our groundnut after harvesting or sometimes allow it to dry and use it to make groundnut oil that is used in the house and sold too for gains.
So basically groundnut have been a part of us for a very long time now. This year due to so much hardship and struggling my father made sure we planted some groundnut. Even though I couldn't assist in weeding the farm they did a wonderful job weeding. Usually we do manual weeding which involves working implements like hoes. And because the soil is very fertile fertilizers were not used at the farm. Below you can see the image and how green and great the grandnut looks.
We sometimes use the oil to cook and fry meat and sometimes use it to eat boiled yams. This morning I used some to eat boiled yam and the oil is so good that it stays for a very long period without getting spoiled
Our state government made sure people go to the farms, that's the only way hunger and poverty will be reduced. The only sad thing is fertilizers were not given to most of the farmers this year. We have thanked him for encouraging farmers. One thing we put in mind here in Benue state is our motto. Food basket of the nation. We must farm and we encourage farming.
Assuming they would have been chemical fertilizers, i think it's a good thing fertilizers were not given to the farmers. It's good the land you have is fertile, but there are many ways to make natural fertilisers at no cost, for instance from cow dung, urine (human and cow), stinging nettles, or grass. These give better crop yields, do not pollute the produce (causing disease for consumers) or ground water or deplete the soil like chemical fertilizers do.
Most people prefer fertilizers because of the soil texture. There are some soil that whatever you want won't do well unless you use chemical fertilizers. Yeah those can easily be used to make non chemical fertilizers. My mother always used chicken waste to grow vegetables at the backyard.