Association empowers 8,000 wheat farmers
By Muhammad Nur Tijani
The Flour Milling Association of Nigeria (FMAN) has empowered 8,000 wheat growers to accelerate paddy production in the country.
Dr Aliyu Sama’ila, FMAN’s National Programme Manager, Wheat Development Project, said this during the Green Wheat Farmer Field Day at Kadani plantation in Kura Local Government Area of Kano State.
According to him, farmers green field day exhibits innovative and improved wheat cultivation technologies.
He also said that the day holds across the six operational states, where FMAN established demonstration farms to showcase improved techniques and management practices to enhance wheat cultivation in the country.
“Our number one role is to provide a market for wheat farmers in Nigeria, we are expanding our procurement as an industry across the wheat producing states,” he said.
Samaila said the programme adopted proactive farmer support services to sustainably boost wheat production and yields per hectare, to enable it to compete with rice and other crops.
He said the programme encouraged the cultivation of demonstration farms in the 15 states to provide training on Good Agronomic Practices to the farmers.
The FMAN boss said the programme had engaged 1,500 wheat farmers to cultivate 1,000 hectares of wheat in Kano, adding that the move would curb spending on wheat import.
Earlier, Prof. Babagana Kabir, Executive Director, Lake Chad Research Institute, said the institute had the national mandate for the genetic improvement of wheat, millet and barley.
Kabir said the mandate of the institute also include investigation of the problems of production of cereal crops.
He said the institute had released four new wheat varieties comprising two bread and two Durum wheat.
According to Kabir, the institute will continue to strive for excellence in research and development to attain self-sufficiency in food production.
Also, the District Head of Kura, Alhaji Abdullahi Kabir, commended FMAN, Central Bank of Nigeria and other donor agencies for supporting the farmers.
He urged the farmers to double their efforts to improve their productivity.
Some of the farmers lauded their gesture, adding that it would go a long way to improve their production output. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Sam Oditah
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