FG supports 9,500 farmers in Plateau to boost wheat production

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security is supporting 9,500 farmers in Plateau with inputs to boost dry season wheat farming.

Dr Steven Dowoh, the Coordinator of the ministry in Plateau, disclosed this on Saturday when he visited one of the cluster farms designated for the cultivation of wheat in Tenti Babba community, Barkin Ladi Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 200 hectares of land had been ploughed solely for wheat production at Tenti Babba.

Dowoh said that the move is part of the Federal Government’s drive toward ensuring food security in the country.

He explained that the intervention, under its programme, “National Agriculture Growth Scheme and Agro-Procket (NAGS-AP)”, aimed at ensuring food sufficiency in the country.

“In Plateau, we registered 9,500 wheat farmers and all of them are benefiting from the NAGS-AP intervention.

“They were provided with three bags of 50 kilograms of fertilisers and one bag of wheat seeds each at a subsidised rate.

“We have clusters here, Vom, Mangu, Shen and Lankang; for this cluster, there are 600 registered farmers who will cultivate on this 200 hectares of land.

“As you can see, we have a nearby dam which has water all year round; it will provide water to the farm for effective dry farming activity,”he said.

Dowoh, who allayed the fears of security breach, said that the Agro-Rangers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were deployed to safeguard farmers while on the farm.

He also said that a ready market has been arranged, adding that offtakers are ready to ensure farmers get value for money.

Speaking, Chief Samuel Pukat, the cluster lead in Tenti, commended President Bola Tinubu’s drive toward boosting agriculture in the country through the NAGS-AP intervention.

Pukat said that the initiative would go a long way to address the hitherto existing loopholes in the agriculture sector, particularly the inability of farmers to access inputs.

He explained that farmers in Tenti cluster had concluded plans to also cultivate another 200 hectares of land for dry season rice farming within the same location.

“As you can see this land has been ploughed and by next week we will be done with planting; three months from now, we will be harvesting wheat in large quantity from this farm.

“By the special grace of God, we also intend to cultivate another 200 hectares of land for rice production here,”he said.