6 hours ago
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From Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
Over 16,000 farmers sponsored with seedlings and fertilisers by the Kebbi State Government have started harvesting their potatoes, maize, and other residual moisture crops to mitigate their losses during last year’s flooding incident, with a target of 150,000 tonnes.
The Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Alhaji Shehu Ma’azu, and his team from the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources visited some villages, especially Bahindin Bagudo village in Bagudo Local Government Area, Raha in Bunza LGA, and Mayalo in Maiyama Local Government Area, to assess the impact of the state government’s interventions.
While speaking with newsmen, Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Alhaji Shehu Ma’azu, confirmed that some of these farmers have started harvesting their crops and they are asking for more interventions.
He said: “The Residual Moisture Crop Production is an initiative of Governor Nasir Idris of Kebbi which is aims at assisting farmers affected by last year’s flood to recoup and continue their normal life.
“Under the scheme, the affected farmers received improved potatoes, cassava and maize seeds, fertilisers and chemicals free-of-charge from the state government as a source of encouragement. Our target is about 150,000 tonnes.”
Ma’azu disclosed that when the devastating floods wreaked havoc on the communities, the state government, through his ministry, supplied improved seeds, fertilisers, and chemicals free-of-charge to encourage recovery.
According to him, “We are happy that you used the seeds, fertilisers and other inputs supplied to you very well. Today, we are here to inspect what you have done and report back to the Governor what we saw.
“Glory be to God Almighty, you people have recovered and the seeds supplied to you were fantastic,” he said.
He added that about 10,000 farmers were expected to participate in the scheme, but over 18,000 registered, which has resulted in a good outcome.
Speaking with newsmen, the peasant farmers at the villages, who displayed their harvests, confirmed that the initiative had recorded success and reduced the succour lost.
In his speech, Alhaji Abubakar Walin-Raha, who represented the District Head of Raha, appreciated Gov Idris for what he described as a good foresight.
He said: “We are very happy that these seeds are extremely good, we used them and we saw how effective they are. We have started harvesting the crops now even the marketers are in our village to purchase the crops from us.”
Alhaji Tukur Umar, the District Head of Bahindin Bagudo, confirmed that after planting the seeds, he also received three trucks of fertilisers and shared them among the 40 village heads in his domain.
He expressed delight over the initiative and appealed to the state government to extend the programme to the dry season to enable other people to benefit.
A peasant farmer, Malam Abubakar Mai-Kifi, said he had been farming for over 40 years but he had never come across excellent maize seed like the one brought to them by the ministry.
On his part, Alhaji Muhammad Sani, who is also the Marafan Mayalo, said the community would never forget Gov Idris’ administration.
“We are happy that after the flood, life is coming back to normal, we appreciate the governor for the gesture. We also want to extend gratitude to His Excellency for the reconstruction of bridge that collapsed during the rainy season.
“In view of this, the entire people of Mayalo have defected to All Progressives Congress (APC) and we shall stand by him in any election,” he assured.
A marketer at Mayalo, Ismail Adamu, who is purchasing the potatoes for onward transportation to other markets across Nigeria, expressed his delight over the bumper harvest of potatoes in many Kebbi communities.
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