News in Brief:
– As part of activities commemorating his one year in office, Kaduna Governor, Uba Sani, has distributed farm inputs to 40,000 smallholder farmers in the state.
– The governor also disclosed plans to revive a moribund tomato processing plant in Ikara LGA, in order to mitigate post-harvest losses.
As part of efforts to boost the agricultural productivity of the state, Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna, recently commenced the distribution of farm inputs to 40,000 smallholder farmers.
The gesture is in line with the administration’s Back to Farm initiative.
He also revealed plans to revive the moribund tomato processing plant in Ikara Local Government Area, with a view to mitigating post harvest losses associated with the produce.
The governor had bemoaned the situation of post harvest losses of key cash crops like ginger, maize and tomatoes due to lack of adequate storage and processing facilities. He explained that this was an especially troubling situation, as his state is the largest producer of the three crops in Nigeria.
Agriculture, as major revenue earner, receives input aid
He reiterated the state’s dependence on agriculture as a main revenue earner, highlighting the programmes and policies his government supported to boost the sector and attract necessary investment for its growth.
Furthermore, he stressed the significance of assisting small-holder farmers, who are crucial to its quest for food security. He noted that the state is providing improved maize seeds, agrochemicals, NPK, urea fertilisers, knapsack sprayers and personal protection gears for agrochemicals use. to these farmers to boost agricultural productivity. In addition, livestock farmers will receive 30-day-old chicks with feed and drugs, and 50 juvenile catfish.
In the same vein, the governor revealed plans to provide power tillers, hammer mills, haulers and threshers to farmer cooperative groups to boost mechanised farming.
Beneficiaries were admonished to put the distributed items to ample use in order to maximise the agricultural output of the state.
A cross section of participants at the occasion, including government functionaries, as well as beneficiaries, lauded the governor’s initiative, expressing the hope that it will eventually transform the agricultural fortunes of the state, while improving their livelihoods.
