~ DAIlY TRUST
25
Wednesday. October 24, 2012
interview
AGBICULlliBE
Kebbi procures 12,000 hand pumps to boost irrigation farming - Kanya In this interview, Kebbi State Commissioner of Agriculture, Elder Sani D. Kanya, said the government has purchased about 12,000 hand pumps for distribution to irrigation farmers in the state as a way of improving irrigation farming in the state Excerpts:
• Elder San! D. !<anya From Is mail Mudash ir, 8iml" Kebbl 8do~ indcpI:'ndatce and up 10 the aarly 70s. agrku ltu~ ...-u Ihe m aJn5layor th ecountry. CII n we: rcsain thill pu t glory? Yes, ....e rclied solely on agr;cuhurl:' but unrortunately ;UtI:'!" thedi:sco\'tt}'ofoil th( ketor was relegated 10 the background Insll:'ild of the gove.mmenl 10 In\T!it the monr"}' de:nved on oil in agriculture it did otherwise. Though programmes ~re introduced to pmnlOCe thc s«tor, there was no &incrnty in the ImplemmlOllion as they were not thoroughly implemented.. Other counlries wen: allowed to m...-kct their rarm prodoce and romparativl:'iy. ~ cannOI compde: wit h thmt beause of their tedmologicaI advancement.
The Federal Government should put In place polk}' to stop the importalion orfurm produce. On a daily ba.~is. \W' import rice ...urth
(
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of Ihl:' l«hnologkal chalknge But ...ith thl:' dTorts now by the federal and state governments, IIkt Kebbi Siall', the trmd would 5000 be a
rice f"armen here in J(d)bi State thai are: h ...v~ting thousands of tons annually but because of thc indf~nt wayof processing their product, pmple dOll'1 patroniu· them. Thedite in thiscounlryt~nd 10 prefer the imported rice againsl local vartety. If roo reduce by half what we are importing n~', ~ncournge: the farmerJ, by giving them tM processing machines. thai is nnpo\\'tJ them, the country will be the belter for it. Kebbi StOlte has tM poIential to f!:'Cd the country In terms of rice and even (or export. If gMn the right assistance, our farmen can meel Nigeria's rice rcquirnnenL In the meantime, the FnienI Government should reduct: the: bnportaUon of rice and cncouraSl:' local rice farmers. Yoo Aid Kebbi has I.h e potentia.! 10 meel the rice: ~quinmenl of the country, what is thc l"lale gove",mell! doing 10 harneu this? We are dOIRg a lot. Righi now we ha\~ ordered for tractors, ptlrdascd over Il.OOO Irrigation pumps for distribution to fannen. r-armers In the stale cultlv.lte rice t ...ice in a ynr now. That is,ln Ihe
Kebbi State has the potential to feed the country in terms of rice ancreven to export. If given the right assistance, our farmers can meet Nigeria's rice requirement
NI billion. Wilh this. howcan ...~ devclop t11e agricultural sectod The over reliance on foreign rood is kiUingand hampering tM dew-Iopme:nl of the: 5«lor. Our
rarmen cannot compete with their fon!ign countaparts bea~
thing oCthe p;asI. Are you adl'OClIting for the banning of importation of fann produce and can "'~ feed ouoelVd?
Ye:s of coursr.
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can (!:'Cd
ourselves. Righi now we haw- local
nllnyanddrysra$O,u..1beootptn and income or our farmers have increased commendably. l..as! ,'ear, how man y metric tons rice were cuhivatcd in Kebbi Stale? I don't ha~ the statistics bot it WiI5 ~y higll. What I call lell
or
you is that the stale governmenl bought rice: wurth ovt"r N700 mi!Uon (rom our farme:rs. The: nce ~ bought was what .....e distributed to \'kt,ms of flood disasta In our state:. Many fannlands wue: wuhaI away this)'nr by 800d; doc:l this portend any cha.!lcnge 10 the sta te? Yes. it does bUI we wen' So!'RSIIlted earlier, berorl:' the diAster. So both the: statr gmvnment and Ihe:farmcrs look mrasurcs to contain II. IloWCW'r, it affected Ihl:' farmers iI!'i many farmlands wen: destroyed. To assist thnn, ~ have introduced dry 5eilSOlI farming. We are encouraging and supponing farmm to go inlo Irrigation fanning in ordu to cover thr damage: cau~ by th~ flood disaster. What is die quantum of the tnde and 15 the governm ent benenUng from il! The Nlgl:'fllin Ex-pon Promotion (".cuneil is doing a lot to consolidate on Ihe lradr. The only thing 15 liIat ~ have not any documentation on the trade. Due proceu is not ftlllowni in the trade otherw,SI:'. the InmqcUon ~,«n Kebbi and NiSl:'r
Republic could have (';lTIIW us a lot of(oreign Cllchange Onio n fanners in Alirro local Goo'emment Area of Kebbi Siale, }·early coullted their losses brought ahoul by lack of storage facilities. What is the gO\'ernlll ent doing In IIQiSI Ihemt We are doing a luc TIlc ~tatc glJ'Ttnor. Alha;i Sa,du ( l~man Dakingan, has arrrM~ that three: stal~ officials Ira\~1 10 Morocco to study tlltlr procmmg ~em. They ha\~ one ohhe bcs1 storagc syste:ms.. When lhe state: offtdalsarrive,onK)n farmers will be sponsoml then! to It'atn from theircounlerparts in Morocco.
Agric promotion, solution to hunger - Ajimobi From Veml Bamlde4e.l~n Go\Ift"nOI'" AbioIa. Ajimobi of Oyo State haJi Idtnlif.c:d the promotion of agriruIlwr through mopc'tatM:s as the only solution to hunger and poymyin Ni~ The: govc:mor, whikspe:aldngal the2012 Workl Food Oay cdebr.mon held al the Parliament Building. Secretariat, lbadan, noted !hal hunger constituted the basic probkm of suste:nance of life as it was a
refk.ction of people's inaccess.ibilityto right quality oHood nc:c:dcd lOr healthy living. Speaking on the theme of this years celebration ~grkultural CoopcratiYa: Key to Feeding the World; Govc:-rnor Ajimobi. who was rcprcsc::nled by hill deputy, Otid Moses Abkt Adq-nno. strc:sscd the need 10 ~ agriculture from subsistence: to comlll~rcial level through agricultural cooperatives. I Ie: saKI agriculture: offers all the:
opportunities to be sdf-an~ aarning a living and improving the livelihood of individuals and chaJiing away hunga. ~Ir ~ are determined to Impr<n'e thc economic situatkm, milia unemployment. joblt'Mnrss. crime and other societal menaa' cspecialIyamong thrynuth.l~ is the ~ to lirst of OIHcombat hunger ...ith imJ'fO"'ed agricultural practicc:s that wiD ensure fOoJ sc:curitf. hcsakl. lnhlsMkome:address,thcCommillSioncr
b- Agriculture. Natural Resouras anc.! Rural Drvdopment, Mr. Bimbo Kolade. said that goo.unmcnt h:IIJ rt:TI"lCl\I\'d all obstacles to emill facilities lOr f.umen and inlcnding fanners in order 10 cnsure food ilCCUril)' in thcstate. The: commissiooe:r said that gt7V't'ITIlTICnt had also crc:atcd easy aYmue to ao;c:ss loans thlllUgh the AgricuhuraJ Uabt Cooper.Kf\"a of Oyo State coupled with the: repackaging d cormncrdal agriruIture credil but scheme.