From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Federal Government and some experts in the agriculture sector have disclosed plans to commence the implement of the second phase of the 2023/2024 dry season farming project through the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP), to boost food production.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, yesterday in Abuja after a meeting with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy,
Wale Edun; and Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu.
Kyari, in a statement by an Assistant Director in the Agriculture Ministry, Ezeaja Ikemefuna, stated that the objective of the forum was to review the implementation of the 2023/2024 dry season wheat production implemented in the 15 wheat producing States.
He stated that the project, aside supporting farmers with critical farm inputs for the production of the priority crops, will provide institutional support for better performances and sustainability particularly in the areas of wheat seeds local production.
The Minister revealed that there were observed lapses in the implementation process hence the need for collective and comprehensive evaluation of the efforts put in place and proffer qualitative remedial measures to forestall their reoccurrence.
According to him, machinery and strategies would be put in place to address the lapses and infraction from all parties.
The Minister pointed out that officers will be deployed to manage and coordinates the supply chain activities, should adhere strictly to the laid-down rules and guiding principles while in their own case.
He added that ‘’the ICT platform provider are to deploy the best and reliable system that can capture and trace all the transactions under the agro-pocket, being the primary purpose government decided to utilize technology in the inputs delivery process to promote transparency, accountability and easy tracking of the impacts and performance.
He charged ‘’the input producers’ fertilizers, seeds, agro-chemicals to ensure that the products supply meet with the prescribed set standards in terms of quantity and quality, the input distributors or agro-dealers to sell only certified and approved products sourced from the registered input producers.”
Also, Wale Edu stated the importance of agriculture sector cannot be overemphasized under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu “here is substantial intervention funds for the agric sector ,in terms of food production, to produce more rice ,maize wheat and cassava.
“It will help to bring down rate of inflation. A successful dry season farming will bring down cost of food production and will bring down inflation’’.
In addition, Atiku Bagudu said that “Nigeria agricultural space is one of the most elastic in the world, every cropping season can produce a miracle, if there is more investment in the sector.”