Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has engaged about 6000 youths in dry season wheat farming. He said the state plans to get seeds for 50,000 hectres in 2017 for wheat farming just as it will start with 5, 000 hectres this year.
Speaking at the training workshop on wheat production, processing and utilisation organised by Lake Chad Research Institute in collaboration with Kaduna State government, he said youths and women would be trained to revamp the agricultural sector.
While urging the youths to embrace agriculture, El-Rufai said his administration will provide the trainees land adding that the state has the capacity to excel in agriculture.
The governor noted that Kaduna had engaged 25,000 unemployed on tree planting as well as thousands were also engaged in the state free feeding programme as one of the steps to reduce unemployment which he described as dehumanizing.
“ We must go back to agriculture for us to feed ourselves and also feed the nation. Our youths must embrace agriculture. Any obstacles they will face we will remove it in order to achieve greatness in agriculture. We have the capacity to feed the nation. We have the land and capacity to excel in agriculture.
“We will provide you with land. We want more women into this agriculture training on wheat farming and production. If you excel others will join you. We asked for the Lake Chad Institute Executive’s commitment to enabling Kaduna State to get seeds for 50,000 hectres in 2017,” he said.
Executive Director Lake Chad Research Institute, Dr Oluwasina Gbenga Olabanji, said the most critical challenge for Nigeria today is the encouragement of domestic production.
Olabanji urged that everyone has to contribute in order to fast-track achieving self-sufficiency through domestic production.
