Minister pledges sustained investment in agricultural production in FCT

Dr Mariya Mahmoud,  Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has pledged the FCT administration’s commitment to sustaining investment in agricultural production in the territory.

Mahamoud said this at the inauguration of the disbursement of grants to beneficiaries of the 4th batch of the FCT Fadama Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (CARES) Programme, on Thursday in Gwagwalada.

She said the initiative is aimed at reducing poverty and improving livelihoods for the poor and vulnerable agricultural households in the territory.

The minister said the FCT Fadama CARES Programme would increase food security and the safe functioning of the food supply chain in the FCT.

She said the programme was designed to support the recovery of livelihood activities of the poor and vulnerable persons engaged in the agricultural value chain, with consideration to women and youths.

According to her, it is gratifying to note that within the first year of the current administration in the FCT, the Fadama CARES programme has disbursed grants to 3,150 beneficiaries under the third batch.

Mahmoud said the programme would provide grants to an additional 6,020 new beneficiaries under the fourth batch.

She said that 9,170 beneficiaries would benefit from the programme during the first year of the current FCT administration.

Mr Saleh Maikudi, a 35-year-old farmer from the Bula community in Akko Local Government Area of Gombe State, says he earns over N7 million annually from growing tomatoes and pepper.

Maikudi, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in the Bula community, said he became a millionaire from growing vegetables.

He said that investing in tomato and pepper farming yielded good returns.

Maikudi said he spent over N1.5 million on 30 hectares of farmland which he cultivated in 2023.

“In 2023, I made N7 million from cultivating tomatoes and pepper.

“I only spent N1.5 million as the total cost of preparing and planting the vegetables.

“I cultivated tomato, bell pepper (Tatashe), chilli pepper, Cayenne pepper (shombo) and Scotch bonnet (hot pepper) on my farmland.”

Maikudi, who is also the chairman of Vegetables Farmers’ Association in the community, said he cultivated 30 hectares of the vegetables annually.

He said that it took 10 weeks after cultivating the vegetables to start harvesting the commodities for another period of 10 weeks.

The farmer said that in the present wet season, farmers had started harvesting and off-takers had been coming to their community to buy the commodities for supply to various states of the country.

He said that the year’s rainfall, which he described as moderate, was good enough for his vegetables to grow and that his tomato and pepper did well.

“If the market is good this year, I am expecting nothing less than N10 million because my vegetables really did well.’’

Maikudi advised the government to build a modern market in the community.

According to him, the facility will help standardise the marketing of vegetables and other agricultural produce as well as provide farmers with the platform to centralise the selling of the commodity.

“Also, the government can establish mini-processing factories to help farmers cut post-harvest losses, boost food security and provide more jobs for youths in the state,” he said.

The National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA)  has assured Nigerians of their safety in the consumption of TELA Maize.

Mrs Gloria Ogbaki, Head of Information and Public Relations, said this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.

She said that the agency’s attention had been drawn to concerns being raised by Nigerians following the approval and launch of TELA maize in the country.

“NBMA wishes to state that the safety and health of Nigerians are of topmost importance, we will not compromise on this.

“We take into serious cognisance the concerns of Nigerians because maize is a staple crop which is of great importance to the country.

“NBMA is committed to ensuring transparency, safety and unbiased decision-making concerning genetically modified organisms,” she said.

Ogbaki said that the agency conducted a proper risk assessment and analysis of TELA maize to ensure that it was safe for human consumption.

She said that the risk assessment for TELA maize was thoroughly conducted by experts and scientists from the academia and other relevant agencies.

The NBMA information officer said that experts from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Standard Organisation of Nigeria and Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service were part of the certification process.

She further listed the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, National Agricultural Seed Council and some university research centres as part of the process.

“They worked with our internal review process and confirmed that TELA maize meets safety standards.

“We urge Nigerians to remain calm and trust in the rigorous evaluation process. TELA maize has been approved based on scientific evidence, its benefits to farmers are significant,” she said.

(NAN)