Kaduna State Commissioner for Agriculture, Murtala Dabo, has said the Kaduna state government will continue to provide the enabling environment for agricultural investors and processors to come to the state.
This was even as he vowed that the state would soon take the lead in livestock production.
He made the assertion in Zaria while on a working visit to assess the AGRA Kaduna consortium agric programme.
“Our farmers have been empowered with skills and inputs. As a government, we have a duty to provide the enabling environment for our agricultural program to strive for investors and processors to come to our state.
“Yes, Professor Ikani Just said we are the leading producers of Maize in the country; we should be leaders in livestock, too.
While, commending the Kaduna consortium agric programme supported by AGRA for empowering farmers with skills and inputs, he said the state government will continue to partner with the AGRA to achieve its goals.
He also called on more improved seed production , “so that our yield with continue to grow from 4 metric tonnes and above. I think we can do 10 hectares and above.
To this end, he also charged local seed firms to sell seeds to farmers at affordable and subsidized rates.
Earlier, the Director of Nigerian Agricultural Extension and Liason Services (NAELS), Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Professor Emmanuel Ikani, lamented that 80 % of farmers in the country don’t have access to seeds.
He lamented that this has affected production as farmers today produce only 4 metric tonnes of their crops per hectare, saying farmers need to produce 10 to 40 metric tonnes per hectare as obtained in other countries
Ikani also said Kaduna state, which is the largest producer of Maize in the country, should do more by ensuring that more farmers are not only engaged and supported in maize production but are supported with new, improved seeds.
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