Governor of Sokoto, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, has expressed the readiness of his led administration to make available farmlands for interested farmers in the state.
The governor, however, urged any interested member of the public to without further delay, register with the department of agriculture of the local government.
This is contained in a press statement signed by his special adviser on media and publicity, Muhammad Bello and made available to newsmen in the state, on Monday.
The statement said as a result of the state multi-million intervention targeted towards enhancing sesame cultivation in the state, farmers in Sokoto State are now reaping appreciable benefits from their venture into this aspect of agriculture.
Recalled that in the past year, in addition to its partnership with a Turkish firm, the state government has provided free seedlings of about 350,000 kilograms of the seed to farmers in the state.
Additionally, 500 units of sprayers, 3,000 units of liquid fertilizer- both of NPK and Urea, as well as ten motorcycles and one unit of Hilux vehicle for extension services were also provided for the venture.
According to Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, “it is (now) clear that sesame can grow in Sokoto State and the government of the state is willing to continue to support our farmers generally and specifically those that are involved in sesame farming as we did last year.”
Speaking during the inspection of the produce cleaning and standardization process being undertaken by the state ministry of agriculture, at which 30,000 bags of the products have been treated, on Sunday, Tambuwal said the government, “have seen the positive impact and we are ready to do even more.”
Before the government’s intervention, less than 10,000 hectares of sesame was cultivated in the state annually.
However, when the government weighed in the last year 2020 the production level got up to over 34,000 hectares.
In subsequent years, the government is optimistic that 91,000 hectares will be cultivated such that it is envisaged that if bumper harvest is sustained and the weather is favourable in coming years, more than 100,000 jobs will be created annually in the state, assured the state Commissioner for Animal Health, who is also currently overseeing the ministry for agriculture, Prof. Abdulkadir Junaidu Usman.
Expressing his satisfaction with the level of performance of the ministry and the farmers in the venture, Gov. Tambuwal said: “You have seen the output of this intervention. This is an international commodity. Sesame is in demand globally; and, if you can produce millions of tonnes of it, the market is there.
Globally, the market size for sesame seed, which shrunk from 2017-2020 increased and currently fetches $1075 per metric tonne, a development occasioned by prominent expansion of its consumption worldwide.
“We have the land. We have the right seed. We have extension workers that are there to help the farmers out. We have given the mobility to go round. So why don’t we take advantage of these?” Governor Tambuwal charged the farmers as he pledged to provide more farmlands to them.
“If you don’t have a farm, go back to your local government (area) and register. Government is ready to provide more farmlands now to farmers. I hereby direct the Commissioner for Agriculture to liaise with the overseer of the ministry for local government affairs. This scheme should start immediately.
“All our farmers who are interested in having farmlands should go and register with the department of agriculture of the local government and then we sit down and look at how best we can encourage people to go back to farm. It is very important,” he added.
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