Jigawa State government has established an Agricultural Seeds Centre for the benefit of farmers and processors in the State.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony at Birin Kudu, Governor Mohammad Badaru Abubakar, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Adamu Abdukadir Fanini, said the seeds centre would ensure availability of improved varieties of seeds at a close distance to farmers so as to boost food production and create jobs.
According to Governor Abubakar, “The policy thrust of the present administration is to provide an enabling environment for private sector investment and agro-based economic growth like the emergence of Dangote and Lee Group Investments in sugarcane and rice towards sustainable socio-economic development of Jigawa State.”
General Manager of the Jigawa Agricultural Supply Company Limited (JASCO), Alhaji Hassan Idris Girbobo, pointed out that the seeds centre would be used to mitigate various challenges facing agriculture globally, such as climate change, incidence of pest and diseases, unpleasant and volatile market prices, among others.
Alhaji Girbobo said the centre was an added economic advantage to the State, adding that it would serve many processors and farmers who normally carried their cleaning and processing to far places like Zaria.
He advocated manpower and efficient laboratory that could guarantee safety, noting that the centre was a partnership venture on the basis of 60:40 between the State and Federal Government on the suggestion of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
In his message, the Permanent Secretary, State Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Mohammed Danzomo, commended the State government’s intervention in the supply of fertilizers to farmers for the rainy season, saying it was a sign of better things to come.
A farmer, Alhaji Dauda Bako, who attended the event, said that the seeds centre would go a long way in improving the livelihood of farmers, among other benefits in the State and its environs.
