As part of efforts to ensure availability of staple food in Nigeria amidst the dwindling global resources and food shortages, the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) has distributed agricultural inputs to farmers in Abia state, in South East and Kebbi and Yobe states in North West Nigeria.
The accredited beneficiaries of the program received high grade fertilizer, herbicides and improved maize seeds for Abia and Yobe states while beneficiaries from Kebbi received improved rice seeds.
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Paul Ikonne, the Executive Secretary of NALDA who led the team in Abia state noted that the input distribution is aimed at assisting farmers across the country to maximize crop cultivation for improved yields and increased food production.
Ikonne in a statement issued to BusinessDay on Thursday said that the program was in furtherance of the government’s mandate in ensuring that Nigerians can produce what they consume, while promoting availability of affordable foods.
“The essence of what we’re doing here today is to ensure Nigerians understand the importance of farming, make sure we produce what we eat and to reduce the price of food in the market. We are expecting nothing less than 340 hectares to be cultivated by this farmers.
“NALDA will continue to support with agricultural inputs on a regular basis, the contact details of all the beneficiaries have been captured in the agency’s database for follow-up assistance and more farmers will be added to the list from time to time,” he said.
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In his remarks, Suleiman Lawal, the director of finance in NALDA who led the team to Yobe state said that it is expected that in the next 3 to 4 months, the outputs from this program, would help in the significant drop in the cost of food items in the market.
The beneficiaries who were drawn from 6 local government areas of the state namely Bade, Yusufari, Jakusko, Nguru, Karasuwa, and Machina, were also educated on the best fertilizer application techniques for maximum yield.
“The NALDA empowerment programme is in line with President Bola Tinubu’s directive to NALDA to reach out to farmers across the country to ensure they produce food while helping the country achieve food sufficiency.
“It would be recalled that President Tinubu had declared a state of emergency on food hence the move by NALDA to compliment the President’s food security through empowerment programme to cushion the effect of high cost of living.
“The empowerment of farmers by NALDA is a continuous exercise to encourage more Nigerians go into farming to ensure self-sufficiency in food production thus boosting food security for the teeming population,” the statement read.
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Commending the efforts of the Agency, Manir Abubakar, chairman of Ngaski Local Government Area in Kebbi State, who participated in the program said that the bags containing high yielding rice seeds, fertilisers and herbicides would help farmers produce more food.
He however urged beneficiaries to utilise the inputs for farming and not to sell them.
Also, Habibu Aliyu a rice farmer in kebbi state said that the intervention by NALDA was a timely one as accessing fertiliser has been a daunting task, he promised to utilise it to the best of his abilities.
Azeezat Jimoh, women Leader of Yoruba community in Abia state appreciated NALDA and the government for the gesture, adding that they will put the needed efforts to ensure they produce enough food.
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