NAN-AE-43
Training
By Mohammed Lawal
Zaria (Kaduna State), Sept. 19, 2017 (NAN) The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, has begun the training of 80 youths from different states of the federation on modern skills for maize production, processing and marketing.
Mrs Karima Babangida, the Director, Federal Department of Agricultural Extension of the ministry, made this remark at the inauguration the of the training exercise on Tuesday in Zaria.
According to her, the essence of the training, which was organised by the ministry at the Institute of Agricultural Research Zaria, is to reduce unemployment in the country.
The director, who was represented by the North-West Regional Director, Dr Remi Adeloye, said the programme was meant to actualise the diversification drive of the Federal Government.
Babangida said unemployment had not only become a threat to the quality of human life, but had adversely affected daily activities and the security of lives and property.
“Under the Green Alternative- Agriculture Promotion Policy of the present administration, the issues of unemployment, wealth creation and food security are being addressed;
“Particularly, as they relate to youth and women empowerment for the benefit of the country.
“The present administration recognises the need to harness and mobilise the resources of the country into actionable agricultural programmes that are people-oriented, to make meaningful impact on the economy.
“As you are all aware, agriculture is pivotal to the success of the current administration’s economic diversification drive,” she said.
Babangida said the programme would capture the beneficiaries with requisite skills to undertake enterprises along different priority value chains that had food and nutritional security.
Earlier, Prof. Ibrahim Umar-Abubakar, IAR Director, said agriculture remained a critical sector that was rapidly moving Nigeria out of recession.
Umar-Abubakar observed that agriculture was central to the actualisation of the diversification drive, hence the decision of the present administration to prioritise it.
He described maize as one of the most important crops being cultivated not only in Nigeria but all over African sub-region, in view of its easy conversion to different delicacies.
The director said IAR made Nigeria proud by living up to its mandate through the release of new different varieties of maize, cowpea, sorghum and other crops annually.
Umar-Abubakar said the institute had released a maize variety that could produce 90 bags per hectare, adding that a farmer required about N200,000 to cultivate one hectare.
“Given the price of maize at N10,000 per bag and going by 90 bags per hectare, one can get N900,000 after spending just N200,000”.
NAN reports that the participants were drawn from Benue, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Nasarawa States among other parts of Nigeria. (NAN)
KLM/FLP/YEMI
Edited by Folorunso Poroye/Yemi idris-Aduloju