Barely two weeks after the visit of President Muhammad Buhari to
Plateau State, the state governor, Simon Lalong has been appointed as a
member of the National Food Security Council.
The council has only six states governors with proven commitment to
agriculture as members working in collaboration with seven federal
ministries, the CBN and other security agencies and is chaired by no
less a personality than the
President.
President Buhari had commissioned 400 number of tractors while on the two day working visit to Plateau.
The other state governors in the council are the govenrors of Kebbi,
Lagos, Delta,Taraba Ebonyi and the seven cabinet ministers are that
if Agriculture and rural development, Finance, interior, industry, trade
and investment, water resources, environment and budget and National
planning.
The broad objectives of the Council includes developing sustainable
solutions the farmers-herdsmen clashes; Climate change and
Desertification and their impact on farmlands; grazing areas and lakes
amongst others. It will also take interest in regional and global
policies and trends that bear implications for food security in
Nigeria.
Plateau State commissioner for information, Yakubu Dati, in a
statement recalled that at the inception of the Lalong administration in
2015, the governor and his team saw the need to promote the
agricultural sector for the development of the state and its people by
making agriculture one of its policy thrusts.
He said the Farmer-friendly governor did not just talk but swung into
action by immediately releasing funds to the state agricultural
development program which brought back life to the agency which had
become inactive.
He said, “Extension service which was almost extinct in the State was
resuscitated With the employment of 400 adhoc staff to guide farmers on
best agricultural practices.
“In addition, the payment of counterpart funds attracted national and
international collaboration that has further enhanced agricultural
production.”
The commissioner said due to the interventions of the Lalong
administration, the World Bank through the state fadama three additional
funding is expecting two crop value chain programmes in the state.
“Modern tomato farming is on the increase With a lot of green houses
springing up all over the state as well as improvement in rice farming.
Another giant stride in the sector is that potato farming is
receiving a boost which has resulted in Plateau being selected as the
only state to run the national potato value chain,” the commissioner
further stated.
Dati explained that it was in furtherance of the desire to encourage a
robust agricultural sector, that th governor created the enabling
environment and sponsored the first ever farmers’ summit in the state
which resulted in in far reaching resolutions.
He said parts of the summit outcome is the acquisition of 400
tractors by the government for a farmer ownership scheme at a subsidized
rate a project he said is bound to elevate Plateau as the most
mechanized state in the country as it now boasts of over 800 functional
tractors in its fleet.
He added: “The moribund Panyam fish farm is now a delight despite
several setbacks as Governor Simon Lalong ensured it came back to life
with production in full gear.
“Fertilizer being one of the major inputs in crop production
propelled the Lalong administration to resuscitate the moribund Bokkos
fertilizer blending plant .
“It is now one of the biggest plants in the country which has
supplied fertilizer to not only the state but other States in the North
Central & North Eastern Regions of the country.”
The commissioner said as things stand today, the investment in the
agricultural sector in Plateau state has gone beyond subsistence levels
to a flourishing value chain enterprise with opportunities waiting to be
tapped.