Zamfara records increase in wheat production

The facilitator of wheat farming in the state, Alhaji Yusha’u Shi’itu Mafara, said the state procured 100 bags of wheat seeds from Kadawa in Kano and distributed to interested farmers in the state when the programme started in 2012 under the wheat value chain programme initiated by the federal government.Alhaji Mafara who is also the […]

The facilitator of wheat farming in the state, Alhaji Yusha’u Shi’itu Mafara, said the state procured 100 bags of wheat seeds from Kadawa in Kano and distributed to interested farmers in the state when the programme started in 2012 under the wheat value chain programme initiated by the federal government.
Alhaji Mafara who is also the Director of Irrigation Services in the state Ministry of Agriculture said that was the turning point in wheat farming in the state as the farmers who got the seeds were able to cultivate about 1,500 hectares of land at the Bakalori irrigation site in the state.
Mafara who said the farmers are targeting wheat production on 250 hectares of farmland in the state, added that they have so far drew the attention of the federal and the state governments on their ability to produce wheat and the minister of agriculture was at the farming site where he assessed the level of their production and also flag- off irrigation farming in the state.
“If there is anything that is discouraging farmers from producing more wheat it is poor market. To overcome this challenge, we made sure the federal government bought back the wheat from the farmers at N15,000 per bag instead of the market price of N8,000. The farmers were very happy with the federal government’s buyback programme saying it would go a long way to encourage them produce more,” he said.
He said the state secured and distributed 400 bags of wheat seeds in 2013 following high demand by farmers willing to cultivate over 15,000 hectares of farmland this year.
Mafara who noted that Nigeria is spending about N630 million on wheat importation annually, said with the mass production of wheat in the state, the country can reduce wheat importation by 20 percent, adding, the “federal government should try and establish micro milling centres for the processing of wheat so that value is added to the crop.”