Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong has vowed to initiate more legal reforms to boost agriculture.
He said the farmers’ summit was one of the steps to transform the state’s economy.
Lalong was among those honoured at the The Nation’s First Summit on Food and Agriculture, organised by Vintage Press Ltd, publishers of this newspaper.
In a chat with The Nation after receiving his award, Lalong said the state attaches importance to agriculture.
“We have revived the Panyam Fish Farm under Private Public Participation arrangement with Solbec Ltd. We also conducted Farmers summit, the first of its kind in the State, which will enable the state come out with an agricultural law.
“We have also created a data base of farmers to know who is doing what and where. In collaboration with the Peace Building Agency, there is dialogue committee to settle farmers and herders disputes,” he said.
The governor said agriculture remained one of the state’s greatest priorities.
“Addressing the challenges of successful agricultural practices requires multi-dimensional approach. For example, we have offered employment of 400 extension workers, which have not been active for over two decades.
“We have almost concluded plans for provision of 400 tractors to Farmers Cooperative at 40 per cent subsidy. Since assumption of office we have made provision of farm inputs such as fertilizer, seeds, herbicides, insecticides, vaccines, etc. We also have several collaborations with international and national development partners,” he said.
Lalong said Plateau had performed excellently on the Fadama 3 World Bank project.
He said the state collaborated with the African Development Bank for potatoes project worth over $8million .
The state, he said, has also completed the process for the release of three uncompleted projects from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture for the state to operate.
The projects, Lalong said, are Agro Farmers International Market at Heipang, and two Agro One-Stop Centers at Mile-8-Fier, Pankshin and Garkawa in Mikang Local Government Areas.
He said there were projects in in public private partnership (PPP) process, such as cassava processing in Langtang South, Yam market in Quaan Pan and Cattle market at Bukuru.
“Other catalogue of achievements of the state in the agricultural sector includes the establishment of a Fadama Farmers Micro Finance Bank, Jos, which is fully operational.
“We have also realigned the Ministry of Agriculture, Plateau Agricultural Development Programme (PADP), the Agricultural Services Training Centres (ASTC) and Marketing Ltd, as flagships of the economy.
“Furthermore, the ASTC has created sustainable awareness among farmers on modern farming and best agricultural practices, cultivated and serviced 18,465 farmers with 30,144 hectares of land, and held pre- and mid-season training for its officers for effective management and service.
“In livestock production, mass vaccination of goats, cattle, poultry, dogs were carried out. In collaboration with German International Zusammenabeit (GIZ), training of farmers on the concept of farming, called the Farmer Business School (FBS), is ongoing.
“To encourage partnership, we have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Greenlands Integrated Agribusiness Limited for the setting-up of the following facilities: fruits and vegetables storage facilities; milk packaging plant and dairy/pig, swine genetic centre; poultry processing plant and Integrated Wind and Solar Power Generation Plant.
“We have also acquired 777 trailer tones of 30 metric tons each totaling 23,310 metric tons of fertilizers for year 2016 (i.e. 466,200 bags of fertilizer) and 20 metric tons for the 2017 farming season,” Lalong said.
Meanwhile, Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima has congratulated his Bayelsa State counterpart Seriake Dickson on his award.
He said Dickson has not only revolutionised agriculture in Bayelsa State but has changed the negative narrative of the state by enthroning sustainable development and peace in “the only homogenous Ijaw State”.
Shettima, in statement by his by the Chief Press Secretary Francis Agbo reads: “Borno State Governor commended Dickson while delivering a goodwill message at the maiden edition of The Nation newspaper First Summit On Food and Agriculture which held at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Abuja.
“Both Dickson and Shettima were also conferred with award of excellence in agriculture. Dickson was particularly honoured for the development of rural agro-business and for using agriculture to diversify the Bayelsa economy beyond oil, through wealth creation, training and skills acquisition in agriculture.
“Chief amongst the legacy agriculture projects/programmes that earned Governor Dickson the award are: the eight aquaculture villages in the state with a 500- Fish Pond at Yenegwe, Yenagoa as the flagship, the commercial cassava plant factory and cassava outgrower scheme at Ebidebri, oil palm plantation development projects, integrated poultry farm projects, rice development initiatives, ultra-modern fish farm projects, etc.
“Shettima said Nigeria can thrive on agriculture because according to him, all regions have comparative advantages, noting that the North is blessed with grains and cereal, the Middle belt can provide tuber needs while the South can provide the fish demand.
“He said: ‘If we are serious as a nation, our national food security is guaranteed.’”
Kebbi State Governor Atiku Bagudu also hailed Dickson for his initiatives in agriculture which he said were people-oriented.
According to him, Bayelsa has the capacity to be the rice hub of the nation, because the “land is fertile and water is available for irrigation.”
He praised the governor for working in this direction.
The award was received on Dickson’s behalf by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr. Doodei Week.