Governor Mohammed Abubakar To Help Dry Season Rice Farmers Cultivate 4,000 Hectares

Bauchi State government has promised to support dry season rice farmers across the 20 local government areas of the state to cultivate 4, 000 hectares.

Governor Mohammed Abubakar made the promise when he launched the 2017 Fadama III additional financing for dry season rice farming at Konkiyel village in Darazo local government area.
He said the state cultivated 2, 500 hectares in 2016 and had planned to double it’s effort by assisting it’s farmers to cultivate more land and increase their output.

The governor who was represented by the state commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Yakubu Kirfi said that Bauchi state was privileged to be the only state in the north-east that has the mandate of the national FADAMA development project to produce rice and sorghum.

He added that the state government has approved the payment of its annual counterpart contribution of N35 million.

“The world bank through the National Fadama Development Project provided the sum of 200 million US dollars for the implementation of the Fadama III additional financing in some selected states, Bauchi state inclusive. The objective of the additional financing is to boost dry season farming as well as increase the income of land users on a sustainable manner,”he said.

Governor Abubakar further explained that the government has also paid N20 million counterpart fund for the national food security and livelihood emergency support under the same Fadama III project for the benefit of the Internally Displaced Persons [IDPs] that have chosen the state as their new home.

On his part, the minister of agriculture and rural development, Chief Audu Ogbe who was represented by one of the ministry’s staff in the state, Muhammed Yusuf said that the programme is a collaborative effort of the federal government and the World Bank to scale up food production and generate employment for youths.

He added that special attention is being given to four staple crops which include rice, sorghum, cassava and tomatoes.

“Bauchi state was identified to have a great potential for the production of two of these crops; rice and sorghum. This is when some states have been considered for only one crop. Let the state therefore justify the confidence reposed in it by excelling in the production of these crops,”he said.

Source: Daily trust