09/02/2023
PUBLISHER: SHINA J.O
Wheat production: FMAN
empowers over 1,000 farmers to boost wheat production in Bauchi.
In a bid to discourage the importation of wheat into Nigeria, over one thousand local farmers from six Bauchi local government areas have been empowered with soft loans and improved varieties of wheat seedlings.
The Flour Milling Association of Nigeria, (FMAN), said this during a Green Field Day Celebration in Bauchi, aimed at helping local farmers with the requisite knowledge and techniques, on how to cultivate wheat, and have a good yield at the end of the farming season.
The variety of wheat cultivated by farmers in Jama’are Local Government Area of Bauchi State with the introduction of new and improved varieties is indeed a proof that Nigerian local farmers are gradually keying into massive production of wheat, to catch up with other nations.
In Bauchi, the cultivation of wheat, according to the organisers, has improved from three hundred hectares with about four hundred farmers in 2022, to seven hundred hectares with over one thousand local farmers in 2023.
Ahmed Barau Jama, one of the wheat farmers said, he has been in the business of wheat farming for the past ten years.
According to him, the long period he has spent on the business has made him better knowledge, adding that the introduction of new varieties of wheat, as well as the new techniques, will further boost his business.
He identified the value chain of their products as a major challenge in Nigeria, despite its high demand in the international market.
Following its scarcity globally, due to forex challenges, the wheat farmers in Nigeria are being urged to intensify efforts in cultivation, to reduce importation, thereby creating more value chains for the indigenous producers.
Dara Network TV 