Kano Launches Distribution Of Agric Extension Services

Kano State Government has launched the distribution of agricultural pre and post harvest mechanization and extension services support worth millions of Naira, under the Kano State Agro-Pastoral Development Project (KSADP) – Sasakawa Africa Association Crop Value Chain Intervention.

The Deputy Governor and Commissioner of Agriculture, Dr. Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna presented the items  to 5, 500 smallholder farmers through their 220 groups. 

A statement released on Saturday by the Project Communication Specialist Ameen K. Yassar, said the distributed items include 244 water pumps, 140 simple planters, 97 rice trans planters, 9 rice mills, 9 destoners, 9 Hammer mills, 9 maize hullers, 9 power tillers, 15 maize shellers, 45 sets of parboiling kits and 6 rice threshers. Others are110 motorcycles to facilitate spread of the right information to farmers in intervention communities by  KSADP’s Extension Agents.

Dr. Gawuna said the initiative would proactively improve agriculture mechanization and provision of extension services support to farmers in the state.

“The core objective of this gesture is to encourage large scale food production in neighboring clusters, towards achieving food security and increased income for the smallholder farmers in the state, which remains a top priority of this government”, he emphasised.

“If this type of partnership can be sustained, the result would be a more effective approach of delivering new, simple and cost-effective technologies and extension programs to serve the needs of all groups of farmers in the state”, he satisfactorily said.

Dr. Gawuna enjoined farmers to embrace better farming systems introduced by the government with the support of development partners such as the Islamic Development Bank, and the Lives and Livelihood Funds, through KSADP, to raise their standard of living and improve the state’s economy, making it less dependent on the Federation Account.

Sasakawa Africa Association, Country Director, Professor Sani Miko described the KSADP-Sasakawa cooperation as a huge success story, because of the substantial increase in yield for all crops; Rice, 100 percent, Maize, 60 percent, Sorghum, 20 percent and Millet, 80 percent, among the beneficiaries, as compared with their production capacity before the project intervention, with corresponding increase in incomes.

He assured that this stride will continue so as to enhance agricultural competiveness in the state, stressing that this year alone, 270, 000 farmers will be supported.