Farmers in northern Bauchi want enabling environment for irrigation farming

FILE PHOTO

FARMERS in the northern part of Bauchi State have appealed to the Federal Government to provide people in the area with enabling environment to enable them engage in irrigation farming and other related activities as part of their contribution towards food sufficiency in the country.

Speaking on behalf of other farmers, 75-year old farmer, Baba Abdu Gadau, in Itas/Gadau Local Government Area, who is also an ex-officio of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the local government area, said the area was blessed with rivers and water reservoirs from Jama’are river basin where food crops such as wheat, rice and vegetables could be grown and harvested in commercial quantities.

Alhaji Gadau, who was among party officials that converged on the council secretariat to receive the Democratic Enlightenment Initiative, a non-governmental organisation saddled with the responsibility of educating rural dwellers on policies and programmes of the state government, said the area also had fertile land for both rainy and dry-season farming.

He observed that the Itas/Gadau area with God’s given facilities for agriculture such as rivers was also suitable for fish farming, one of the areas that enhance economic activities, and commended Governor Mohammed Abubakar for the provision of fishpond where youths are currently being trained on fish farming for self-reliance.

He also commended the Federal Government for its determination to ensure the dredging of Lake Chad silted in recent years which hitherto provides means of livelihood for millions of Nigerians.

Gadau described the election of President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2015 General Elections as an act of God which required no appeal.

He also expressed delight with the recent pardoning of prison inmates, six of whom from the local government, by Governor Mohammed Abubakar, and called on people of Itas/Gadau and the entire citizens of Bauchi State to give the government all necessary cooperation and support in its determination to take the state to greater heights.