Sokoto to build 3 dams, buy 244 tractors under agricultural integrated plan

The Sokoto State Government has said it will build three dams under its integrated agriculture project to support Fadama and dry-season farming.

Bashir Achida, the economic adviser to the state governor, said this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.

He said the government would purchase 244 additional tractors to boost agricultural activities to ensure mechanisation and commercialisation of agriculture in the state.

Mr Achida said the agricultural integrated plan also entailed all agricultural activities, ranging from the rearing of animals and poultry to the construction of rice mills in all three senatorial zones.

He said the programme would involve cultivating hundreds of hectares of land, noting that the state would leverage its comparative advantage of having rivers and dams for the farmlands.

He listed some of the crops to be cultivated, including onion, garlic, and millet, among other cash crops in commercial quantity.

“We are number one in terms of onion and garlic production; we are number one in West Africa.

“And the current government has a programme to accelerate the production of these crops.

“Because each day, about 50 to 100 trucks of onion and garlic are transported to countries like Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and other African countries,” he told NAN.

Mr Achida said that, given the state’s agrarian nature, the government has been supporting the sector since it came on board.

“The government has purchased seeds, fertilisers, farming equipment, and now we are working on a comprehensive plan not just to give the individual, we are working on two critical projects,” he told NAN.

He said the government was also working on programmes to mitigate post-harvest losses.

“We are also collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals Development towards having licences for some of the mineral sites to harness the abundant untapped solid minerals resources in the state.”

According to him, the government is working to attract investors and harness the resources for the good of the state. He added that about five investors have indicated interest in the mineral sites.

He listed the minerals to include limestone, iron ore, and gold, among others.

He said: “We have also identified senatorial zones that have the potential to grow economic trees like shea butter.

“The government is encouraging the planting of economic trees and working with the Federal Ministry of Environment to get the trees to plant for economic prosperity.

“The government is working with the chamber of commerce on the tree planting, the idea is to empower individuals and members of the community for economic prosperity and fight climate change.”

He also told NAN that the governor was implementing safety measures to protect farmers and other citizens from natural disasters.

“We have this National Agriculture Insurance Cooperation; we are engaging with them to come in, even though we cannot stop natural disasters.

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“The government is also providing mitigation measures for flood and natural disasters, like buffer dams, and palliatives to the people in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps.

“We are doing a lot and working to ensure that we have a competitive delivery of our agriculture products,” he said.

(NAN)