President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has approved the release of N2.5bn to boost the production and storage of grains in the country.

The money is to be spent on the development of improved seedlings, purchase of chemicals and allied inputs and also for mopping up excess grains from farmers under the Strategic Grains Reserve Programme.
The Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, Dr Sayyadi Abba Ruma, disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday, while receiving the Kaduna State Governor, Mr. Mohammed Namadi Sambo.
He said the move was to encourage farmers to produce more grains with the assurance of a ready market.
He said, “Government is working on various strategies to ensure that farmers are given all necessary support to produce more. We believe there is a ready market for an increase so there won’t be fear of experiencing a glut.”

Ruma said the Federal Government had approved the request of the Kaduna State Government to utilise about 34 earth dams constructed by the ministry for its irrigation projects and charged other states where such facilities abound to put them to productive use. “The government is fully conscious of the need to increase the food security level of the country, and it is our plan to apply all the necessary apparatus and the natural resources towards attaining a comfortable and secure food future for our nation,” he said. He promised that the ministry would harmonise its programmes with those of state governments to create a synergy that would lead to the attainment of the agricultural goals of the present administration which includes self-sufficiency and export.

He said the ministry had mapped out strategies for repositioning the cooperative movement in Nigeria for proper coordination, especially in terms of providing access to agricultural credit facilities. Sambo had earlier told the minister that he was in the ministry to show appreciation for the Federal Government’s permission to use its dams for irrigation purposes and to also appeal to the ministry to help the state farmers through its Buyer-of-Last-Resort Programme. He said this would not only encourage them to continue to produce grains, but also raise their production level.

He promised that Kaduna State would always work in close collaboration with the Ministry in order to realize the full development of its abundant agricultural potential.