Muhammad Garba
No fewer than 42,000 Small Scale Farmers were registered in Jigawa state to participate in the 2023/2024 Federal Government national Wheat Productions program, which was flagged off in Kadume village of Hadejia local government of the state.
Speaking at the occasion, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Senator Abubakar Kyari stated that the flagging off of the program is a key activity in the implementation of federal government food security policy.
He noted that the registered farmers will be given free seeds while other inputs will be sold to them at a 50 percent subsidy, which aims at enhancing their capabilities to implement the program.
“In this regard, we have set ambitious targets to support between 150,000 to 250,000 farmers with a 50% input subsidy to cultivate between 200,000 to 250,000 hectares and an expected yield of 1,250,000 tonnes of wheat aimed at enhancing our food security.
“Under the policy, we want to improve our crop yields by 20 percent this year. Equally, we will gradually continue to improve our irrigation facilities to diversify crop production for achieving food security, Job creation, growth, and development.”
The Minister commended the commitment demonstrated by the Jigawa state government and its farmers which proved to the federal government that the state is a key and reliable partner in achieving federal government food security policy, jobs creation, and poverty eradication.
In his speech at the occasion, Jigawa State Governor, Malam Umar Namadi said the federal government Wheat Productions and Agricultural Policy is a welcome intervention and it is in tandem with his Government 12 point agenda for poverty eradication of Jobs creation and making ‘Jigawa great.”
Governor Namadi explained that the provision of sustainable livelihood through exploiting all the agricultural potentiality at all aspects is an integral part of our 12-point agenda, and in achieving this we are ready to partner with any collaborator at all levels.
“The mantra of “Agriculture as Business” has been yielding good results in our state we will gradually continue to improve our Fadama irrigation facilities to make Agriculture throughout the years business in the state.”
“Under this year’s Federal Government Wheat production program, we will mobilize an additional 1400 Extension Agents to support the farmers with modern techniques of farming and equally stand as their grantors for accessing the loan of 35 percent of the remaining 50 percent cost of inputs subsidized by Federal government for achieving the desire goals,” Governor Namadi declared.
