Young Rice Farmers Train On Community Seed Production

The Federal Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development, under the Department of Agriculture Rice Value Chain, has trained young rice farmers drawn from northwestern states of Nigeria on community seed production and inclusive business management to encourage even distribution of good quality seeds to farmers for better yield.

Speaking during a two-day capacity building and training of young farmers in the North-West geopolitical zone, organised by the ministry, the Minister of Agriculture, Dr Muhammad Mahmood Abubakar, said the ministry had found it very important to encourage young rice farmers to explore all the opportunities in rice farming along the value chain.

Represented by an assistant director from the ministry, Malam Bashir Usman, the minister added that the best way to do it was to ensure and facilitate the spread of good and qualitative seed among rice farmers, and also to equip the farmers with the best agricultural practices skills through encouraging community seed production, as well as inclusive business management.

“The trained youths will receive a starter pack that includes foundation seeds, insecticides among other inputs to allow for easy distribution of qualitative seeds to farmers in the rice farming communities,” he said.

One of the beneficiaries, Halima Baffa, said the training was timely as preparation for dry season rice farming was gearing up, adding that the young farmers would use the skills learnt during the training to breed good seeds to be used by farmers during the rainy season.

Daily Trust
Young Rice Farmers Train On Community Seed Production