CBN, Sokoto Govt. spend N 1.12bn on wheat farming — Official


The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Sokoto State Government had spent over N 1.12 billion on the 2016/2017 Anchor Borrowers Wheat Farming Programme, an Official said in Sokoto on Thursday.

The Chairman of the Framework Committee on Agricultural Development in the State, Alhaji Chiso Abdullahi, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Abdullahi, a former Deputy Governor in the state, said that out of the amount, the apex bank contributed about N990 million, while the state government provided over N125 million.

According to him, no fewer than 4,305 farmers are benefiting from the gesture for the season that commenced Nov. 2016 and will end in the first week of Feb. 2017.

”The state government had since distributed over 1500 bags of wheat seeds free to the farmers across the state.

”In the same vein, the state government had sold additional 2,094 bags of wheat seeds to the farmers, with each bag bought at N 35,000 and sold at N 18,219.

”The government had also given assorted fertilisers to the farmers at highly subsidised rates as well as other farm inputs,” he said.

The chairman further said that the farmers had been fully trained, while adequate extension officers were provided for them, with each farmer billed to get a package of N 235,000 in cash and kind.

He further stated that both the CBN and the state government have made adequate arrangements to provide all the logistics needed for the success of the programme.

Abdullahi added that the state government has also bought 3,000 water pumps and sold to tomatoes farmers at highly subsidised prices.

He said that each water pump was bought at N42, 000 and sold to the beneficiaries at N10, 000.

”In the same vein, the state government had bought 6,000 bags of fertilisers for sale to the tomatoes farmers at subsidised prices.

” The state government has also concluded arrangements to establish a mini-tomatoes paste production company in the state.

”All these are being done in the bid to have more value addition, reduce poverty and unemployment, curb post-harvest losses and boost food security in the state,” Abdullahi said.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tomato disease outbreak: Institute appeals for research funding

The National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan, has appealed for funding to carry out research and create awareness on the tuta absoluta pest on tomatoes. The Institute’s Head of Vegetable Programme, Dr Olagorite Adetula, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Friday that there was an urgent need to tackle the problem to save the economy. Adetula said the institute needed money to do surveillance survey of the pest/damage, ascertain the impact of the damage and proffer solution for eradicating the pest. She appealed to the Federal Government to help the institute get pheromones to lure and trap the pests and distribute to farmers. ``Spraying insecticides is not the best, the pest has high production rate, some of them can escape while spraying it and they will be resistant to the insecticide thereby causing us more cost. ``The pheromones can be used for six to eight weeks before changing it, it is very effective, the pest has short life cycle, wit...
Read more

10,000 women farmers to be engaged in ECOWAS rice project – official

Image
 Mr Richard Olafare, the President, Seed Entrepreneurs Association of Nigeria (SEEDAN) says 10,000 women will be engaged in the recently inaugurated Rice Seed Up-Scaling Project. This is contained in a presentation on the project made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday. Olafare said 8,000 youths would also be engaged in the scaling project. According to him, the number of women and youths represented 50 per cent and 40 per cent respectively of the 20,000 farmers that will participate in the project. NAN reports that the project is an initiative of the West Africa Seed Programme (WASP) in support of the ECOWAS Rice Offensive Programme that was inaugurated in 2014. Among other objectives, it is targeting the production of 60,000 metric tonnes of paddy rice for Nigeria by December 2017, using 1,200 certified seeds. The project is being implemented by SEEDAN in collaboration with the West and Central Africa Council for Agricultura...
Read more

Monsanto Nigeria Launches 3 Conventional Maize Hybrids

Maize farmers across Nigeria now have 3 high yielding conventional maize hybrids to choose from the DEKALB ® brand as Monsanto Agriculture Nigeria Limited launches 3 conventional maize hybrids. The launch held in Abuja on Tuesday May 17 2016 had in attendance farmers, development partners, government regulatory bodies and other stakeholders from both the private and public sectors of the economy. The launch of these hybrid seeds follows their registration by the National Committee on Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Varieties, Livestock Breeds and Fisheries in February 2016. The white maize hybrid, DK234 alongside the 2 yellow maize hybrids, DK920 and DK818 obtained registration approval for use in Nigeria after testing across various agro ecological zones on multi-location farms. The white maize hybrid DK234 with yield potential of 13 tonnes per hectare is well adapted for the Southern and Northern Guinea Savanna ecologies and shows tolerance to Maize Streak Virus, ...
Read more