A total of 60,000 Cotton and Rice Farmers would be supported under the Zamfara State Government/Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) agriculture partnership scheme.
The Special Adviser, Zamfara Directorate of Accelerated Cotton Development (ZAMDACOD), Alhaji Abdullahi Maiturare, disclosed this at a press conference in Gusau on Thursday.
Gov. Matawalle had during Zamfara Govt Partners CBN to Empowering his campaign for office promised to revive the agricultural sector with an emphasis on cotton production.
Maiturare said that the state government has secured CBN’s approval to finance 60,000 farmers in the state through their commodity associations.
“Under this arrangement, 30,000 farmers each from Cotton and Rice sectors would benefit from the partnership.
“The programme is already in top gear.
“The cotton farmers are to be taken care under the National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN) while the rice farmers are to be handled by the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN).
“In order to achieve the success of the programme and to remedy the shortage of lands for farming occasioned by insecurity and other allied factors, Gov. Matawalle has already dedicated 130,000 hectares of farmland for cotton farming located across the 17 emirates of the state.”
the governor’s aide also explained that the state government, in collaboration with the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, had secured 4.5 tones of cottonseed.
He said the cottonseed is suitable for Zamfara farmlands and is estimated to cover at least 2,000 hectares.
“The gesture is geared toward supporting cotton farmers with an improved variety of seed, free of charge, and in addition to the allocation of two brand new utility vehicles to the directorate by the state government.
“The present administration came to salvage the citizens of the state from the bondage of unrest, calamities, illiteracy, maladministration and misplacement of priorities.
“Thereby instilling good orientation and bringing back to function some of the abandoned and neglected sectors of development, including the revitalization of the ailing cotton production.
“This necessitated the reorganization of the directorate of Accelerated Cotton Development know as ZAMDACOD and assigned us to pilot the activities of the directorate,” he said.
The Special Adviser appealed to the people, especially farmers to reciprocate the gesture by being supportive of all government policies and programmes.
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