About 250,000 wheat farmers are expected to get support from the Federal Government as the dry season farming has been flagged off. The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, who spoke at the flag off of the dry season farming in Hadejia, Jigawa state, said that 50 per cent input subsidy would be given to cultivate between 200,000 to 250,000 hectares. He said that an expected yield of 1,250,000 tonnes of wheat is to come from the cultivation.
Kyari assured the farmers that the programme would be technology-driven, which would in turn, guarantee transparency and accountability in the provision of the subsidy and other support services like extension, insurance and additional finance. “Our farmers are guaranteed access to improved seeds. In this particular instance, I would like to point out that we are deploying heat tolerant wheat varieties like Borlaug 100; Attila, among others, adding that “We will also progressively invest in irrigation infrastructure projects to optimise water usage and mitigate the challenges posed by the dry season”.
Speaking further, he said that the ministry had been innovative in utilising information and communication technology (ICT) to target already proven irrigated farm clusters; deploy verified farmer data; and map the farmers to agro-dealer redemption centres. The minister, however, called on all stakeholders; farmers, researchers, private sector entities, civil society organisations, and all to come together and seize the opportunity presented by this 2023 dry season farming initiative. FarmingFarmersFarms reports that some of the wheat producing states in Nigeria include Jigawa, Plateau, Benue, Kano, Kebbi, Kastina, Adamawa, Kaduna, Borno, Sokoto and Taraba. Wheat only grows in temperate conditions and it is mainly grown in the northern states of Nigeria.
