Hybrid wheat seeds ordered by the PresidentTinubu-led administration have arrived at the Nigerian port in Lagos.
Recall that the President declared a state of emergency on food security in the country and made agriculture and food security the number one priority of his ‘Renewed Hope’ administration. Acting on this, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security outlined the procedures and processes for the dry season wheat farming.
The Ministers of Agriculture and Food Security were at the venue inspecting the imported seeds.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, speaking to newsmen, said, “If you all recall, the statement of food emergency declared by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, sometime in July.
“When he came into office, he kick-started this process of the wheat dry season farming with the importation of 6,750 metric tonnes of wheat seeds. The ship docked on Saturday; and we are here to inspect the offloading of the ship for onward delivery to our centres. We have four designated centres in the North (close to the wheat zones)”.
Responding to a question on the partnership with Flour Milling Association of Nigeria (FMAN), the Minister said, “This wouldn’t have been possible without the support from FMAN. They facilitated the whole process from the import and the shipping and other logistics even up to our designated centres. They’ve been fantastic and everything is going smoothly according to plan. We are supposed to kick-start the dry season farming sometimes in the middle of November which is in 10 days’ time. So, we are happy that this is right on time”.
Also responding, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator (Dr.) Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, said the Government has shown it can walk the talk considering that Food Security is the number one priority of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The Chairman of FMAN, John Coumantaros, said it is a critical initiative towards achieving food security for the nation. He said, “The population is around 210 million and still growing so it’s critically imperative just as the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has stated that we must create food security within the country. The primary basis for this is to double and triple the yields we are currently getting”.
“The farmers must plant between November 15th and December 15th; otherwise, the season gets too long into the dry season”, he stated.
