By Usman Muhammed Zaria
The Bank of Agriculture (BOA) says it has earmarked about ₦200 billion to support dry-season farming for 400,000 farmers across the country.
BOA North-West Zonal Manager, Abdul-Razaq Datti Saleh, disclosed this during the flag-off of the 2026/2027 dry-season wheat farming programme at Maje village in Taura Local Government Area of Jigawa State.
He said the intervention, implemented in partnership with Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN), is aimed at increasing local wheat production, reducing dependence on imports and strengthening national food security.
Saleh explained that the financing would give farmers access to resources for land preparation, irrigation, improved seeds, fertilisers and other essential inputs.
He urged beneficiaries to make effective use of the support to improve productivity and contribute to the development of Nigeria’s wheat industry.
Some beneficiaries in Jigawa State said the programme had improved their livelihoods, increased household incomes, empowered women and created employment opportunities for rural youths.
One of the beneficiaries, Hajiya Laure Musa, said the initiative introduced her to commercial wheat farming through the provision of agricultural inputs, technical guidance and extension services.
She explained that the support enabled her to harvest successfully, repay her agricultural loan and make profits to support her family.
Another beneficiary, Malama Rabi’atu Sani, a widow, also described the intervention as a major boost to her family’s economic circumstances.
A male farmer said the programme had created opportunities for rural youths to earn a living through dry-season farming rather than migrate to cities such as Lagos, Calabar and Port Harcourt in search of seasonal jobs.
He added that improved seeds, fertilisers and technical support had increased wheat yields from between 20 and 25 bags per hectare to between 65 and 70 bags on the same farmland.
The General Manager of Golden Agro Input, a subsidiary of FMN Agro, Engineer Tayo Ilori, said the company was supporting 10,000 farmers across six states under the 2026 dry-season wheat programme.
He said each farmer received inputs for one hectare, including 100 kilogrammes of wheat seeds, six bags of urea, four bags of NPK fertiliser and chemicals for weed and pest control.
The package, valued at between ₦250,000 and ₦350,000, is provided as a loan repayable in harvested wheat at prevailing market prices.
Ilori identified improved seeds, quality fertilisers and regular extension services as key factors in raising productivity.
He said the company had deployed about 250 lead outgrowers to provide technical guidance and urged farmers to target seven metric tonnes per hectare in the 2026/2027 season.
The Project Director, Engineer Olusegun Falade, said the programme had increased average wheat productivity from less than one tonne per hectare at its inception to about 4.2 tonnes, with some farmers recording as much as 7.2 tonnes.
He identified poor loan repayment, slow adoption of modern farming practices and land ownership challenges as obstacles to the programme.
However, he said repayment performance had improved from about 60 per cent to between 95 and 98 per cent in some cases.
The National Wheat Development Programme Manager of Flour Mills of Nigeria, Aliyu Ismaila, said the initiative had strengthened Nigeria’s wheat value chain over the past five years, raising average yields from 1.2 tonnes per hectare to 4.1 tonnes last year.
He added that the company was targeting an average yield of five tonnes per hectare in the 2026 dry-season farming cycle.
Ismaila also disclosed that Nigeria’s wheat seed supply had increased from less than 200 metric tonnes to more than 10,000 metric tonnes, enough to cultivate over 100,000 hectares.
Editing By Yusuf Zubairu
