NALDA records bumper rice and maize harvest across the state

In response to efforts to expand production in the country, the National Land and Agriculture Development Authority (NALDA) has said that the entire state has recorded a bumper crop.

The agency, which spoke to journalists at selected farms across six geopolitical zones, said it had started harvesting, bagging and storing rice and maize in Niger, Nasarawa, Benue and Oyo states.

The Authority’s Executive Director Paul Ikon said the Authority established the farm in cooperation with private and public institutions to achieve food security in the country.

He expected the harvest to increase domestic grain supplies with a ripple effect on downstream value chains producing poultry feed and other household products.

Meanwhile, authorities are assisting farmers in Garambi area of ​​Bauchi state with agricultural equipment to harvest their 500 hectares of maize and rice farms.

The farm on the NALDA farm property is equipped with four tractors, two corn threshers, a planter, a boom sprayer, a corn harvester, and a finished grain warehouse.

The Bauchi State Coordinator of NALDA, Mr. Muhammad Muazu, noted that the mechanized farm would increase production in the community, adding that the good harvest recorded at the farm had attracted the interest of farmers in the surrounding rural areas. .

He expressed his excitement and said: “As a young man working on a mechanized farm, I feel very happy. You have to look far to see mechanized farms that use only machines for everything. “We see a very bright future because we can cover a very large area of ​​land within one site. In a very short period of time.”

Authorities have also begun harvesting a 150-hectare rice field in Gboko, Benue State, using two combine harvesters, tractors and other bagging machinery.

Speaking during the visit, NALDA Provincial Coordinator Asom William said the farm has recorded good success with the deployment of farm equipment, adding that it has also motivated the youth to take part in volunteer activities.

He said the essential equipment is now ready for further expansion in the next planting season, including diversification into dry season production.

Meanwhile, NALDA Director of Engineering, Engineer Owolabi Matthew Olusegun, said: You’ll see how much effort it saves, how much tedious work it eliminates, and how it streamlines the entire process. ”

“We are therefore appealing to the Federal Government for further investment in NALDA. We are ready to replicate this farm across the country, which will increase acreage and ensure food self-sufficiency.” “We can do it, and we do,” he said.

Niger State is also awash with the same success story where NALDA harvested maize from 85 hectares of land in Tunga Gana, Pakoro Local Government Area.

The farms, established to provide opportunities for women and youth, produced an astonishing amount of grain. The NALDA State Executive in Niger State, Ilya Bala Manta, said the ongoing harvest is going very well, especially as the entire process is fully mechanized, which has also received a lot of praise from the youths of the region. He said that there is a lot of interest.

“Most of the work we do here is mechanized, but we also employ about 50 women who help us assemble the corn in places where machines might face obstacles. Also, about 100 young people participated in everything from field preparation to harvesting, depending on the work,” he said.

Manta said the state’s intention is to further expand production next season, which could cover 400 hectares with permission from headquarters.

He said plans are also underway to start dry season farming on 100 hectares elsewhere.

Mustafa Haruna Ndadama, the farm’s manager, described his time working on the farm as “a great experience so far.”

“The most important aspect of it is innovation. The only place you see all the activities being done by machines is where the challenge was to have people do it manually.

“New innovations that have come to Niger have helped increase yields. We are seeing farmers coming together to see things they have never seen before,” he says. I did.

Source: guardian.ng