WACOT partners Jigawa in Sesame production

Speaking during the official flag-off ceremony of 2015 commercial sesame farming in the state held at Gumel Local Government Area, General Manager, WACOT, Mr. Pankaj Chawla, said that economic statistics have shown that Nigeria has non-oil revenue of $320 million from exports of sesame, representing 10% of the total sum of $3.2 billion global trade […]

Speaking during the official flag-off ceremony of 2015 commercial sesame farming in the state held at Gumel Local Government Area, General Manager, WACOT, Mr. Pankaj Chawla, said that economic statistics have shown that Nigeria has non-oil revenue of $320 million from exports of sesame, representing 10% of the total sum of $3.2 billion global trade of the cash crop, adding that about 180,000 metric tonnes of sesame was produced annually in the country.
Stressing the importance of the partnership, Mr. Chawla said Jigawa is the highest producer of sesame and that it stands in particular and the nation in general to benefit from sesame farming owing to the fact that Chinese farmers have begun to abandon the crop while India‘s production is hampered by erratic weather conditions, stressing that sesame farmers in Nigeria have an advantage due to demand and supply mismatch, coupled with good pricing.
Flagging-off the project, Emir of Gumel, Alhaji Ahmed Mohammed Sani, called on all sesame farmers to distance themselves from sesame grain adulteration, adding that the act is seen and regarded as economic sabotage which would not be condoned.
“Sesame farming has become synonymous to Jigawa people; it is also not pleasant to hear that some unpatriotic people have been engaged in adulteration of the grains by adding fine sands to the grains to make it heavier. This is quite unfortunate, this is purely economic sabotage and we will not allow that.
“I urge all of Jigawa sesame farmers to maintain their distance with such unpatriotic act,” said the Emir of Gumel.
Earlier in his address, Jigawa State Deputy Governor, Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, who represented the state governor, Badaru Abubakar, stated that the new government had already identified agriculture as the vehicle to drive the state’s economy.