The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) has set out to support effective dry-season farming across the country.
The Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari made this known in Lagos, when he undertook a tour of the Apapa Bulk Terminal Facility of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc. to inspect the offloading and dispatch of 6,750MT of high yielding certified wheat seeds imported into the country through the instrumentality of the Flour Millers Association of Nigeria (FMAN).
According to the Minister, who spoke in the company of his Minister of State, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, and other senior officials of the FMAFS, "the choice of the seed variety: Borlaug 100, is indicative of the resolve of Government to drastically enhance output, and in turn reduce the nation's wheat import dependency.
"The administration of Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu is unrepentantly committed to the sustainable transformation of the food production capacities of the Nigerian farming populace, and this is also evident in the Government's recourse to the mechanism of FMAN to procure the seeds".
This, he said, was informed by the Association's well-documented antecedents of progressively catalysing the growth of wheat development in Nigeria through various viable initiatives".
On his part, the Chairman of FMAN, Mr. John G. Coumantaros who was on hand to conduct the Minister on the tour, noted that the Association has initiated and executed noteworthy projects that have contributed to Nigeria's wheat development agenda. In this regard, the Association has provided input loans to over 7,000 farmers and has also established funding for research and capacity development for wheat farmers.
According to Coumantaros, "FMAN, over the years, has facilitated and procured over 51 thousand metric tonnes of wheat grain from 504 collection points spread across 15 states in Nigeria. The main impact point of the Association remains the areas of human capital development, where it has directly assisted over 100 thousand smallholder farmers with; vital training, equipment for land preparation, irrigation; mechanised harvesting and threshing services, as well as strong agronomic support, all aimed at increasing crop yield and profitability. Therefore, forging a partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security sits squarely within FMAN's vision to drive self-sufficiency in wheat production in the country."
