Plateau farmers to hold agriculture summit


Farmers in Plateau under the aegis of the All Farmers Cooperative Society are to organise a summit to review obsolete agricultural laws and farming methods.

The group’s Chairman, Mr Joshua Bitrus, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Jos that all stakeholders in the agricultural sector had been invited to the summit.

“Some of the agricultural laws we have are no longer practicable, they are inhibiting the growth of agriculture.

“Now that government is encouraging people to invest in the sector, there is every need to take a cursory look at the laws and review obsolete ones.

“We want to also review farming methods like shifting cultivation amongst others that are not in line with best farming practices.

“The summit will advise on the best farming methods considering the current peculiarities of the state,’’ Bitrus said.

Bitrus said that resolutions arrived at during the summit would be submitted to the state House of Assembly to undergo legislative procedures to become laws.

According him, the group is collaborating with members of the House Committee on Agriculture who would participate actively in the summit.

The chairman told NAN that the cooperative society was working closely with the Plateau government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

According to him, the efforts of the committee on the summit will amount to nothing if the state government was not involved right from the planning to the final stage.

“In that light, we wrote a letter to the ministry stating our intention to host an agriculture summit and we sought government’s support.

“The ministry graciously accepted to be part of it and by the grace of God, we are planning to host the summit in February this year,’’ he added.

He commended the state government under the leadership of Gov. Simon Lalong for the commitment to agricultural development.


Bitrus said that Plateau, an agrarian state, had a lot to offer to the country if the right environment was created.

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