Gombe farmers trained on modern farming techniques for bumper harvests

Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe

In an effort to help rice and wheat farmers in Dukku and Nafada Local Government Areas (LGA) of Gombe State, boost food security as well as leverage on the border closure policy of the Federal Government, a lawmaker representing Dukku/Nafada federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Hajiya A’ishatu Jibrin Dukku, has sponsored the training of 60 farmers on modern irrigation farming techniques.

Speaking at the training, the sponsor disclosed that the gesture was to support the people of her constituency who are mostly agrarian “in order to empower the constituents economically and to achieve food security.”

The training, which was being conducted by experts from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria and Federal College of Land Resources, was organised to expose the farmers to various methods of dry and raining season rice and wheat farming.

According to Aminu Ibrahim Sharifai, a trainer from ABU Zaria, who explained various methods of modern farming techniques, including site selection, simplified seeds and fertilizer application, the drill was to encourage and ensure bumper harvests.

According to the lawmaker, who called on the beneficiaries to make proper use of the skills acquired, the programme was conceived to boost rice production in the two local government areas of her constituency.

“I urge you all to make good use of the farm inputs you are provided with, in order to be self-reliant,” she stated.

While also commending the lawmaker for the gesture in his remarks, the Emir of Nafada, Alhaji Muhammad Dadum Hamza, and his counterpart in Dukku, Abdulkadir Rashid, who was represented by Baffa Galadima, described the legislator as a true democrat striving to impact positively on the lives of her constituents.

At the end of the training each of the 60 farmers that benefited from the program were given a pumping generator and some amount of money to enhance their irrigation farming.

On behalf of the beneficiaries, Malam Ibrahim Adamu thanked the organiser of the training and assured it would go a long way in empowering farmers economically to embark on sustained cultivation that would guarantee food security not just in Gombe but Nigeria at large.