Kano’s rice production hits 3million tons per year – Ganduje
NEWS DIGEST – Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje has revealed that his administration is recorded boost in local rice production, saying that about 3 million tons are produced annually to meet the demands of the people in the state.
Mr Ganduje stated this on Sunday during the Indigenous Rice Value-chain Promotion programme, organised by the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, RIFAN, in partnership with R-CONNECT, as contained in a statement by Hassan Musa-Fagge, Press Secretary to the state deputy governor.
The governor attributed the progress to the agricultural policies introduced by his administration, which he said had created significant impacts on farmers’ production capacity, especially local rice.
“Today, I am proud to state that because of the activities and policies of this administration towards agriculture, rice production in Kano has reached the level of 3 million tones in a year,” Mr Ganduje was quoted as saying in the statement.
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Mr Ganduje, represented by his deputy, Nasiru Gawuna who is also the state Commissioner of Agriculture and Natural Resources, recalled that before the inception of his administration in 2015, rice production level was very low, stressing that from 2015 upward, the production of rice in the state grew by over 75%.
He explained that under the programme of Anchor Borrowers’ Program alone, about 127,000 farmers had benefited in the state.
Mr Ganduje, however, decried the habit of critics who spread falsehoods regarding government policies on agriculture in Nigeria, arguing that, “we in the sector and the farmers know very well about the good impacts of those policies to agricultural development.
“When these programmes started, State Governments were in contact with farmers to examine this change.
“Associations become active, which means farmers have come to terms with the policies of the government and what the government wants the farmers to do is to accept the policies and advise on how to do it best,” he said.
The governor assured that his administration would continue to do its best to the farmers in the aspects of technology, agricultural extension and seeds provision, stressing that fertilizer is no more a problem in the state as the state is performing well on fertilizer production.
“While doing that on Fertilizer, the Federal Government came with Fertilizer intervention committee which is also doing well and brought about progress in the issue of Fertilizer production,” he added.
