Yuletide: FG working to crash food prices ― Minister

The Federal government has said it is working out modalities to bring up measures that will crash food prices naturally especially during the yuletide period.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammad Abubakar stated this on Monday in Abuja during a familiarisation visit to the Agricultural Council of Nigeria (ARCN).

The Minister assured that the federal government will not just sit and watch prices of food skyrocketing.

He said the federal government is also working with international organisations to improve the sector in order to enhance food production that will be sufficient for Nigeria’s growing population.

His words: “We are doing everything possible to bring up some kind of stimulant that will cause price reduction naturally. Nobody will just sit and watch”.

The Minister also hinted at the return of the Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) which he said the ministry will kick off the programme soon, as they have found a way to make the scheme work better.

While speaking, the Executive Secretary of ARCN, Professor Garba Sharubutu said the council will support the ministry in order to ensure, there is a provision of necessary input for food security, poverty eradication and diversification of the economy.

He said the various Research Institutes have made giant strides in developing technologies to tackle some emerging diseases and pests both presently and in the past.

“We have changed the direction of our research from basic research to demand-driven agricultural research and technologies. Most of our Research Institutes now are answering the yearning.

“You will recall that we had cases where we had Armyworm that was destroying maize farms, we also have instances where pests were destroying beans farms, and also the cases of Tuta Absoluta in tomatoes.

“Our research institutes have been able to find solutions to these pests and insects, that is the demand-driven agricultural research initiative”, Professor Sharubutu said.

Professor Sharubutu said researchers are making efforts to incorporate nutrients into crops in order to improve the nutritional components of crops.

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