ABDULLAHI Salisu, the Coordinator, FCT Fadama III Additional Financing Project Office, has trained 3,510 famers across FCT through its capacity building component.

Salisu said this on Wednesday in Gwagwalada at the inauguration of distribution of farm inputs to production groups in FCT for the 2018 farming season.

He said the office had facilitated the implementation of 133 business plans out of the 333 prepared by production groups along three value chains, cassava, Rice and Sorghum.

The Coordinator said the office had also provided funding support as well as technical backstopping and mentoring to Fogbe Production Cluster to encourage community-based rice seed production.

According to him, under this support, two production groups were able to cultivate 20 hectares of Faro 44 Foundation Seed under the supervision of the National Seed Council.

“I am indeed excited that the Faro 44 Rice Foundation Seed we are distributing to our farmers today is a product of the Fogbe Community-Based Rice Seed Production Project,” he said.

He said the objective of Fadama III Additional Financing Project was to move farmers from subsistence to commercial production through ramping up of production across three selected staple crops supported by the project.

Salisu said the attainment of commercial farming was anchored on deployment as well as adoption of modern agricultural technologies and best practices.

He said the FCT Fadama III Additional Financing Office had facilitated the acquisition of quality inputs at the right time and at competitive prices to enable farmers make necessary preparations in good time.

In his remark, Mr Nzekwe IfeanyiChukwu, Secretary, Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) said the event was a millstone towards the development of agriculture in the FCT.

He commended the Fadama III Additional Financing Project in the FCT for its achievements in capacity building for farmers and distribution of inputs.

Ifeanyichukwu pledged the commitment of the FCTA to advance agriculture in the FCT, adding that the administration was committed towards the advancement of agriculture.

“This administration is working tirelessly towards ensuring the provision of farm inputs, linkages to sources of credit and markets as well as the provision of enabling environment for farmers in the FCT,” he said.

He commended the National Fadama Coordination Office (NFCO) for the Fadama Graduate Unemployed Youth and Women Agroprenuer Support (Fadama GUYS) Scheme initiative.

He said the initiative would create employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed graduate youths in the country.

He, therefore, called on the NFCO to expedite action in the disbursement of funds to the selected beneficiaries to ensure timely preparations for the 2018 cropping season. (NAN)

– Mar. 28, 2018 @ 18:18 GMT |