Federal Government says the Renewed Hope Seed Support Programme was designed to help farmers recover part of the planting season lost to dry spells.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, stated this at the official flag-off of the Renewed Hope Seed Support Programme in Dutse, the Jigawa State capital.
He said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had approved the intervention and directed that it reach affected farmers within the planting window.
“Mr President, His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, approved this intervention and directed that it reach affected farmers inside the planting window. That instruction is the whole difference,” Kyari said.
According to him, each beneficiary state would receive 32 metric tonnes of certified cowpea seed, 9 metric tonnes of certified groundnut seed and 8.35 metric tonnes of certified sesame seed, with the Jigawa intervention expected to reach approximately 4,935 small holder farming households.
The Minister further explained that cowpea, groundnut and sesame were selected because they are short-duration crops whose improved varieties can mature within the remaining period of the rainy season.
Kyari commended the Jigawa State Government for its sustained investment in irrigation, mechanisation, extension services, improved inputs and partnerships in agriculture.
“Jigawa does not treat agriculture as a department of government. This state treats it as the economy, because it is the economy,” he said.
Also speaking, the Director-General of the National Agricultural Seeds Council, Fatuhu Mohammed, said the council remained committed to ensuring that farmers received quality planting materials through seed certification, quality assurance, variety registration, laboratory testing and regulatory enforcement.
He commended Governor Namadi for his administration’s investment in irrigation, mechanisation, improved agricultural inputs, extension services and policies aimed at encouraging private-sector participation in agriculture.
The flag-off brings together the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, NASC, the Jigawa State Government, farmer organisations and other stakeholders in an effort to ensure that the certified seeds reach farmers quickly enough to make productive use of the remaining planting season.
Usman Mohammed Zaria
