Anambra targets 1000 hectares for Sorghum cultivation this season
By Sunny A. David, Awka
Certified Sorghum seeds worth over one hundred and fifty thousand naira have been disbursed to Sorghum farmers in three local government areas of Anambra State under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Programme, ATASP-One, Adani- Omor crop processing zone.
The exercise with took place in Awka, attracted sorghum farmers from Orumba South, Ayamelum, Anambra East Local Government Areas and very few from Inyi under Udi zone due to proximity.
Speaking during the exercise, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Mechanization, Processing and Export, Mr. Afam Mbanefo, said they are developing four hundred hectares of land to back up their activities in sorghum value chain.
Mr. Mbanefo, who noted that the State government targets to cultivate one thousand hectares of sorghum this planting season, enjoined them to comply with the best planting practices in sorghum for high yields.
He however advised them to form commodity groups that will be cluster based and register with the Ministry’s data base to benefit from intervention programmes of both federal and state governments.
In a remark, the Zonal Programme Coordinator, ATASP-1, Mr. Romanus Egba, said they were commissioned to cultivate more sorghum because of the bumper harvest that was recorded last year.
Mr. Egba, represented by the Zonal Outreach Specialist, Chief Emmanuel Ude, enjoined them to invest in sorghum, stating that it gives more money.
In a lecture titled, “Cost Benefits Of Sorghum Production And Sorghum Crop Importance” a sorghum commodity specialist, Mr. Hakeem Ajegbe, announced that they are going to back up sorghum farmers in the State with training in processing and provision of manual and motorized machines .
Some of the beneficiaries, Mr. Chukwujekwu Okoli from Orumba South, Mrs. Gloria Udemezue from Ayamelun and Mr. Roy Mbah from Inyi in Oji River local government area of Enugu State, assured of judicious use of the certified seeds to achieve the State governments efforts in the sector.