Agric Institute advocates early distribution of inputs by govt to farmers

Sun, Feb 28, 2021
By editor
2 MIN READ

Agriculture

The Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, has urged government to distribute inputs to farmers early, in order for the beneficiaries to harvest the desired outcomes of such interventions.

Prof. Mohammed-Faguji Ishiyaku, Director of the institute, gave the advice while speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Sunday, in  Zaria.

Ishiyaku noted that often times, the preparations  for the distribution of inputs to farmers was carried out late, thereby  making the intervention getting to the end users sometimes around August.

”By that time (August) the rainy  season has gone far, it will be okay  for  poultry farmers, but for crop  production,  you  have  to start  planning  around  January  to  February.

”By February, you might have finished your procurement; you must have come with the cost of distributing of the inputs to farmers.

”This way, it will go a long way in ensuring that the benefits which government intended is harvested appropriately,’’ he said.

Ishiyaku said that given the fact that the 2021 rainy  season was  around the corner, the institute would not relent on its effort in creating  more awareness  among farming  communities across the country based on its stock of resources, including technology.

According to him, the institute had  improve  seeds  and  management  practices,  which would be presented  to stakeholders at  its  upcoming  annual  review and planning meeting  in April.

Reacting  to the  predictions by NiMET of a mid-season or terminal drought, the director advised farmers  to  plant the  ‘early  to medium maturing’ crop varieties.

He added that  the early to medium maturing crop varieties were those that aligned very well with the length of the predicted rainy  season.

”These   varieties  don’t stay long  enough;  by the  time the  drought  sets  in,  they are  almost  matured, so  the   ravaging  effect   of  the  short  rainy  season  will  be  highly  minimised .

”We have these early and medium maturing seed varieties for sorghum,  maize, beans,  ( cowpea), cotton and  groundnut”, the director said. (NAN)

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