of Jigawa
NAN-AE-7
Rice
By Muhammad Nasir Bashir
Dutse, Nov. 1, 2017 (NAN) Alhaji Aminu Isa, the FADAMA III Project Coordinator in Jigawa, says that farmers, under the project, have cultivated 610 hectares of rice farms in the current farming season.
Isa told newsmen in Dutse on Wednesday that 300 farmers cultivated 310 hectares of rice farms during the 2016 dry season farming and got good yields.
He also said that the farm yields had increased from four tonnes of rice to 6.2 tonnes of rice per hectare within the period.
He said that the farmers who cultivated 310 hectares of rice plantations were currently harvesting their produce.
He noted that the current rice harvests reflected a noticeable increase, when compared to the 2016 yields.
Isa attributed the increased yields to the fact that the farmers got the required farm inputs in good time and their hard work.
“Each of the farmers was given four bags of NPK fertiliser and two bags of Urea fertiliser as well as 50 kilogrammes of seed and six litres of insecticide.
“They also received six litres of herbicide and a sprayer, while a tube well was sunk for each of them.
“They were given a water pumping machine each.
“The farmers are expected to pay back a certain percentage of the cost of the inputs they received at the end of the farming season,’’ he said.
Isa said that the FADAMA III programme had defrayed 80 per cent of the cost of fertilisers, while the beneficiary farmers would pay the balance of 20 per cent.
“For the tube wells, the project pays 90 per cent of the cost, while the farmer is expected to pay 10 per cent.
“As regards the insecticide and herbicide, the project pays 50 per cent of the cost, while the farmers settle the remaining 50 per cent,’’ he said.
Isa said that agronomists from various universities were engaged to supervise the farmers throughout the crop growing period to facilitate improved yields.
“The agronomists visited the farmers over 40 times to advise them on how best to use the provided inputs to attain better yields,’’ he added. (NAN)
MNB/AIB/OOK
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Edited by Abdulfatah Babatunde and Dayo Komolafe