Green Field Day: 1000 Kano wheat farmers meet scientists on improved production

From Mustapha Adamu, Kano

About 1000 wheat farmers have met face-to-face with scientists and other stakeholder yous on improved production in Kano state.
The event, tagged; Wheat Farmers Green Field Day, held in Kura Local Government, a predominantly rice-producing area, was organized by Flour Milling Association of Nigeria, FMAN.
Speaking at the event, Head of Value Chain of the FMAN, Dr Aliyu Samaila, said about 1,000 wheat outgrowers were engaged to meet scientists and other stakeholders on how to grow wheat effectively.
According to him, the engaged farmers had been working on 1,200 hectares after being supported by FMAN with inputs, aimed at boosting wheat production in the state.
Dr Samaila, who is also the National Programme Manager, Wheat Development Programme of the FMAN, explained that the outgrowers had undergone series of trainings on how to produce, process and marker the crop.
He also said that about 1,500 farmers had been engaged nationwide.
“In Kano alone, we have one about 1200 haters. With about 1500 Farmers nationwide. We are working with close to a thousand pounds in Kano state.
“This is the farmers Greenfield Day. It is a forum where the farmers meet the scientist, meet the stakeholders, meet whoever else is involved in the crop production.
“To just assess the growth of the crop. How far it has gone. Then we take a kind of history of where the farmer is coming from, where he is now and where he hopes to be, for him to share with others, how much of the technology is adopted?Why he adopted them? What else you couldn’t adopt, and why?
“And in the process, as we have invited farmers from other places, as to let them learn from their fellow farmers, share experiences and exchange notes, so that they will pick what is useful to them and drop what is not,” he explained.
Dr Samaila notes that the programme is a continuous process which requires the stakeholders to reconvene and asses the development in the next five to six weeks.
In his remarks, the Director General, National Agricultural Seed Council, NASC, Dr Ishiak Othman Khalid said 65 percent of seeds used in Nigeria are developed in Kano state.
The DG, represented by a Director at the agency, Hudu Ubandoma, also disclosed that by the end of February, new improved varieties of seeds for maize and rice would be introduced.
According to him, Nigerian farmers should rise up to use the variety of high-yield seeds developed by the agency to produce more food in order to help the government in its efforts to provide food security and its rising cost in the country.