Kano State Government has reiterated commitment in mapping out policies and programs aimed at boosting agricultural production in the state.
Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje stated this while addressing participants of the 4th regional onion conference, held at coronation hall, Government house Kano.
The Governor who was represented by his deputy Dr. Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna said, Nigeria had one of the best onion in the world which is being exported to diffrent parts of the world including France, Japan, India among others..
Governor Ganduje maintained that the exportation of its onion had significantly contributed to the growth domestic product and placed Nigeria’s onion value chain in the global market of onion exporting countries.
He described Kano as the 3rd largest producer of onion with one of the biggest onion market in the continent.
Ganduje urged onion Producers, processors and marketers to maintain the tempo and urged others to emulate their cooperation and dedication to their source of livelyhood.
“As we all know, onion is an important vegetable crop,whose distinctive flavour and medicinal content is appreciated by people throughout the world.There’s no household that does not consume onion”
Also speaking the minister of Agriculture and Rural development,Alhaji Mahmoud Abubakar reaffirmed federal government’s readiness to boost agricultural production according to international best practices.
The minister represented by Alhaji Abba Gana Yamani said, the importance of onion can never be underestimated. Saying that the ease of cultivating the crop makes it a lucrative business for farmers.
“Nigeria is among the largest producers of onion in the world, in 2012 an estimated 240,000 tonnes of green onions and 1,350,000 tonnes of dry onions were produced in Nigeria”
Earlier in his remarks, the chairman of National union of onion Producers, processors and marketers association (NOPPMAN),Alhaji Aliyu Isa Maitasamu, pointed out that there was a wide gap between the demand for onion consumption and what is being produced as the country’s demand stood at 2.5 million metric tons while farmers had the capacity to produce only 1.4 million metric tons annually.
He appealed to the central bank of Nigeria (CBN) to include members of the association in it’s anchor borrowers programme to ensure massive production that would go a long way in boosting the nation’s GDP.
The chairman maintained that, onion was being used by pharmaceutical and food processing companies due to it’s high nutritional value.
The 4th regional onion conference themed: ‘The onion sector in the era of the African Continental free trade area and the covid-19 pandemic’ witnessed large turn out of government officials,onion Producers, processors
and marketers from Nigeria and Africa, as well as stakeholders in the agricultural sector within and outside the country.
KHADIJAH ALIYU/KANO