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By Akanji Alowolodu, Bauchi
In order to promote good agricultural practices on wheat storage after harvest, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has begun a one day training for 40 big time wheat farmers in the states that consist the North East subregion and Plateau state.
While declaring the training opened in Gombe on Thursday, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammed Abubakar said that the training was timely considering the current Russia/ Ukraine War which is affecting the availability of wheat all over the world.
The reason is that, Russia is considered among countries with the largest exporter of wheat in the world but as the war against Ukraine persists, there are fears of imminent shortage of the produce which may affect several economies of the world, Nigeria inclusive.
The Minister who was represented by the Zonal Director, FMARD, Umaru Yusuf said that wheat is one of the most consumed food products in the country stressing that the wheat value chain is quite large as it can be processed into different range of foods including, pasta, bread ,noodles among others.
He then urged the farmers to grow wheat in large quantity noting that the training would also equip them with modern technology on wheat farming and storage as well as marketing.
He further urged the participating farmers to put into practice, the knowledge they have acquired during the training because of the immense benefits attached to wheat farming.
In his goodwill message, the National President, Wheat Farmers Association, Dr Salim Saleh described wheat as crude oil in disguise because of the economic benefits in its production will accrue to the country.
The National President who was represented by Mr Elisha Mohammed commended the Federal Government for introducing wheat farming urged farmers to embrace it because of it’s huge market potentials
In his vote of thanks , Desk Officer, Wheat Value Mr Telta Naftali , Desk Officer Wheat Value Chain FMARD said wheat is a very important crop with a huge potential to transform the nation’s economy hence the need for farmers to explore the opportunity provided by the training to become self sufficient in wheat production.
He said that according to CBN reports, Nigeria import $2 billion worth of wheat annually which is equivalent to N1trillion which according him was unacceptable.
According to him, the the huge amount the nation’s is spending on importing wheat is akin to Nigeria exporting wealth to other countries and importing poverty.
Telta Naftali said that it is high time for Nigeria to channel the money into wheat production in order to save the nation’s lean foreign reserve.
“Farmers should not rely on the Federal government to provide farming inputs before embarking on wheat production because agriculture is a business not a developmental project” he said.
