The Katsina State government has distributed dry season agricultural equipment worth over eight billion naira to farmers at a subsidised rate across the 34 local government areas of the state.
Governor Dikko Radda disclosed on Monday during the launching and distribution of the equipment at the People’s Square, Muhammadu Buhari House, Katsina.
“The 4,000 hand power tillers, the 4,000 solar-powered water pumps, and the 48,000 bags of fertilizer we are distributing today is in the tune of eight billion, 281 million, 340 thousand naira”, according to Radda.
He said that the state marked the end of the 2024 cropping season with remarkable success in bumper harvest which serves as a litmus test to his determination to attain food security, noting that, it marks the beginning of another dry season 2024/25.
“Our administration has prioritised the agricultural sector as the mainstay of the state’s economy by way of enhancing GDP, IGR, employment opportunities, investment, curving rural-urban drift, miming indolence and improved livelihood.
“Our strategic collaborations and partnerships with
development partners such as NG-CARES, IFAD-VCN, RAAMP, ACReSAL, IsDB, AfDB-SAPZII among others have opened up green opportunities for investment into value and financial inclusion addition, agro-processing,
stimulating the local economy.
“Last year, we started a dry season farming support programme where we supported farmers under six commodities viz: tomato, pepper, onion, cabbage, carrot and watermelon with the drilling of bore-hole, solar water and herbicide urea fertilizer, pump, N.P.K fertilizer, insecticide at six clusters per LGA, across 34 local government areas of the State. A total of 2040 farmers were supported.
“May I at this juncture commend the generosity of the Federal Government through CBN donated 80 trucks of assorted fertilizers to the Katsina State Government. These inputs are meant to be distributed to genuine farmers to enhance food production in the State.
“These farm machinery are meant to reduce, if not eliminate, farm drudgery, build resilience of the farmers from reduced access to animal traction. It is an
investment in your future, your families’ future, our state’s future and the future of our dear nation. By sustaining soil productivity and fertility with the fertilizers coupled with tillage machinery and ensuring sustainable water application through the solar-powered machines, you can have increased crop yields, translating to higher revenues
and improved livelihoods without altering the ecosystem”, Radda explained further.
Earlier in his part, Minister of Agriculture, Abubakar Kyari lauded the Katsina State government for its giant stride to food security in Nigeria.
According to him, “Evidently, Katsina is one of the states where production took place with 99.7 per cent success recorded during the 2023-2024 dry season wheat cultivation, as well as, 98.23 per cent success recorded in the last 2024 wet season programme under the Federal government input support initiatives”.
Kyari further commended the Katsina state Governor, Radda for performing creditably in the numerous federal government intervention programmes in the State.
