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| Rice Farm |
RICE FARMING BOOSTED IN PLATEAU STATE
AS BUHARI GOVERNMENT RECEIVES ACCOLADES
By Dickson Gupiya
August 16, 2018
The
administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was highly commended for its
efforts aimed at boosting agriculture in the country. This was the submission
of members of the Rice Farmer Association of Nigeria (RFAN) Plateau State chapter,
today in Jos during the distribution of rice seedlings, farming items, fertilizer
and other chemicals through the on-going CBN/RFAN Anchor Borrowers scheme aimed
at boosting rice production.
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| Dauda Aku, Secrtary RFAN, Plateau state chapter |
The
event which took place at PADP premises at Dogon Dutse saw a large turn-out of beneficiaries.
Speaking to African Drum, Dauda Aku,
the Secretary of RFAN Plateau State chapter said the distribution was going on throughout
the three senatorial zones simultaneously.
Aku
said that initially, 9,620 names of farmers across the 17 LGAs in the state
were forwarded to their national office in Abuja but 6,396 names were approved.
He however emphasized that the exercise is a process, consequently, other
application were given due considerations and subsequent approvals will soon be
done.
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| Specially blend Fertilizer for rice |
He
added that the Northern, Central and Southern zones were entitled to 11, 8 and
17 trucks of fertilizer respectively amounting to 37 trucks saying that all the
zones have received the approved quantities except Southern zone which received
only14 stressing that the remaining 3 trucks would be delivered soon.
However,
Aku said the supply of herbicides of different categories was done100 per cent.
These included pesticides, pro and post – emergence respectively.
Shedding
more light on the programme, the secretary said that the Anchor Borrowers
programme is a tripartite scheme involving the farmers, the participatory
financial institution (PFI) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which is
managed by a Project Management Team (PMT) comprising of the CBN, RFAN and
Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Commission (NAIC), He said the CBN heads the
management team in every state through its head of Development Finance Office.
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| Herbicides |
The beneficiaries
who are in the category of 0.5 hecters received the following items; 1 water
pump (3inces), 10 sets of discharge, 5 sets of hose intake, 15 kg of certified
seed, 3 bags of specially blend fertilizer for rice, 1 litre of pesticide, 2
litres of pre- emergence and 1 litre of post- emergence.
Speaking
to African Drum after receiving the items, all the beneficiaries rained encomiums
on President Buhari led administration for initiating the programme and
ensuring its implementation which would eventually boost rice production and by
extension, enhanced food security.
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| One of the beneficiaries with some of his items |
The beneficiaries further commended the
government and the officials of the association for their transparency in
carrying out their activities which saw people benefitting based on merit and not
through bribery or who you know as was the norm during previous governments.
According
to a beneficiary. “We only registered by given our names and BVN numbers. Thereafter,
our farmlands were mapped out and captured by the service provider; we did not
buy any form or paid any amount for anything. It is now that we are making the
necessary payment.”
Mr.
Aku advised the people of Plateau state to key into the programme so as to
enjoy its benefit.
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