Fish farmers in Dutsen Alhaji, Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), last week, suffered losses as heavy rainfall, which lasted from Wednesday till Thursday morning, flooded many farms and swept away thousands of fishes.
The heavy and prolonged rain caught the farmers unprepared as it has been irregular this season.
Recounting his ordeal, one of the farmers, Mallam Bala, said, "I went to the farm after the heavy rain that lasted throughout the night, only to discover that some ponds were seriously affected, especially those located along the bank of waterways.
"It is painful to see farmers lose their investments in just few hours.
"This is more so as some of the fishes have reached harvesting stage," he lamented.
Another farmer, Alhaji B.S. Abubakar, who already negotiated with a buyer, said he woke up to discover that his 1, 000 fishes were reduced to just 80 kilograms.
"I had already negotiated with a buyer who even went to the farm to assess the fishes a day before the disaster happened, only for me to wake up in the morning with the sad news of what happened the previous night," he lamented.
Another farmer in the area, who lost over 5,000 fishes due for harvest, was forced to harvest the remaining ponds due to the fear of what might happen again.
When Daily Trust visited the area, some farmers were seen taking preventive measures to protect their farms from being washed away by flood.
"I have widened the water-releasing channel in my ponds so that water can easily flow out," Mr. Bitrus Yusuf, one of them said.
Source - http://allafrica.com/
