The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Jigawa has commended Gov. Mohammad Badaru for expanding the state’s Cluster Farming Support Programme to cover 1,000 hectares in Kirikasamma Local Government Area.
Alhaji Bulama Kaku-Marma, AFAN Vice Chairman in the area, made the commendation in Kirikasamma on Thursday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
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NAN reports that the expansion of the programme in the area was directed by Badaru to support farmers whose farms were recently destroyed by suspected herdsmen.
He also commended the Kirikasamma Local Government Chairman, Alhaji Salisu Garba-Kubayo, for allocating 800 of the hectares to Zagari and Marma areas, which were badly hit by the attack.
Kaku-Marma said that the support would cushion the effect of losses recorded by his members and significantly increase their productivity.
“With this support, I can confidently tell you that we will produce at least 10,000 tonnes of rice in the 2020 dry season farming which begins in February.
“This is because government will give us inputs like fertiliser, herbicides, pesticides, improved seeds, irrigation pumps and more boreholes will be drilled,” he said.
The chairman called on farmers and herdsmen in the area to sheath their swords, saying violence was inimical to meaningful development.
“The truth is that these attackers do not spare even the local herdsmen we live with; they also destroyed their farms.
“They are mostly foreign nomadic herdsmen, who under the influence of drugs storm people’s farms in their droves and unleash mayhem.
“That is why we are calling on the security operatives to assist us in curtailing these frequent attacks,” he said.
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