Kebbi Agric Ministry to sustain food production through mechanisation as foodstuff prices keep rising in markets

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Shehu Mu’azu, Kebbi State Commissioner of Agriculture

By El-Yakub Dabai, Birnin Kebbi

Kebbi State Commissioner for Agriculture, Shehu Mu’azu says the current high rise in prices of foodstuffs in the country has driven the state government to strengthen mechanization to improve food production as well as lower production cost.

To this end, the Commissioner said government had provided thousands of solar and CNG powered irrigation pumps as well as power tillers to farmers as a deliberate gesture towards achieving the set objectives of providing abundant foods to the people.

Mu’azu was addressing a press briefing at his office in Birnin Kebbi, adding that state government had paid its counterpart funding of N350m to a world bank assisted programme, Rural Access for Agricultural Marketing Programme, (RAAMP) which would be responsible for constructing 250 kilometres of road for transporting farm produce to markets.

Furthermore, he said in order to achieve a perfect production chain, government had up scaled its Agric Extension workers unit from the initial sixty nine to 650 out of the required One thousand personnel who would shoulder the task of teaching farmers in the rural areas modern skills of food production geared towards bumper harvest.

The Commissioner said apart providing adequate ferfilizers, pesticides and herbicides to farmers, government had entered into sustained contract with an air spray company that whenever the need arose the contractor would swing into action especially when quelled birds attacked farms.

Mu’azu said apart from plans to construct industrial boreholes in Southern parts of the state to provide water for irrigation farming, government had registered 30,000 rice farmers, 7,500 maize farmers and 2000 cassava farmers aimed at boosting food production under the Kauran Gwandu-led administration.