KATSINA – The Katsina State government will train 15,000 farmers in modern agriculture to boost food production, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Alhaji Musa Adamu, has said.
Adamu said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Katsina that 5,000 farmers would be selected from each of the three senatorial zones of the state.
NAN reports that the government had already sponsored 60 youths to Port Novo, Benin Republic, who would be trained at the Songhai Farms.
He said those trained would be given free seeds, subsidised fertilizer and pesticides.
Adamu pledged that the state government would purchase whatever was produced by the farmers to encourage them to expand production.
According to him, the government has openned 5,000 hectares of farms each in Dutsin-ma, Funtua and Mai’adua, where youths trained in Benin Republic are practicing the trade.
Adamu said that the government had established livestock, fisheries, bee-keeping, irrigation and seeds production centres on the three farms.
He said that the government has began earning revenue from the Dutsin-ma centre from sales of vegetables, fish, poultry, animals and grains.
Adamu said that Songhai Agricultural Initiative was aimed at eradicating poverty, creating employment and enhancing agricultural productivity in the state. (NAN)