FG to prioritise soil health to boost farmers’ productivity

Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, has restated the Federal Government’s commitment to increase yield-per-hectare of farmlands in the country.

The minister, played host to Bernard Vanlauwe, deputy director-general of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and Christian Witt, senior programme officer in charge of Soil Health at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in his office in Abuja, said beginning from 2025, the ministry would accelerate a combination of measures focused on soil health.

He noted that countries with higher yield-per-hectare had taken care of their soil.

“If you conquer the soil, the yield gap Nigeria is experiencing can be bridged,” he said, adding that “What is important is to support the Nigerian farmer to be more productive.

“If they can get 10 tonnes per hectare, why leave them at two tonnes per hectare?” he queried

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The minister of state observed that improper use of fertiliser and other agro-inputs remained a challenge, pointing out that field reports indicated that farmers were under-fertilising their farms in some places.

Abdullahi further emphasised the attendant impact of higher yield-per-hectare on the nation’s food and nutrition security. “You can imagine the nutritional status, life-changing improvement, and poverty-alleviating effects that would occur if you properly take charge of your soil,” he said.

He also called on IITA to properly align its activities and operations with Nigeria’s national interest, urging a closer relationship with relevant institutions.

The minister of state invited IITA to assist Nigeria with revitalising its six zonal soil laboratories, which are located in the country’s zonal coordinating research institutes.

Earlier, Bernard Vanlauwe, the deputy director-general of IITA, said the institution was desirous of more active engagement with the relevant technical team at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. He stressed the need to ensure the trickle-down of research findings to end-users to maximize agricultural production output.