Sokoto state governor, Aminu Tambuwal has said that his administration’s multi-million naira intervention targeted to enhance sesame cultivation, has made farmers in the state are now reaping appreciable benefits from the aspect of agriculture.
The governor, who spoke on Sunday during the inspection of the produce cleaning and standardization process being undertaken by the state ministry of agriculture, at which 30,000 bags of the produce have been treated, his administration “have seen the positive impact and we are ready to do even more.”
In the past one year, in addition to its partnership with a Turkish firm, the state government has provided Free seedlings of about 350,000 kilograms of the seed to farmers in the state.
Additionally, 500 units of sprayers, 3,000 units of liquid fertilizer- both of NPK and Urea, as well as ten motorcycles and one unit of Hilux vehicle for extension services were also provided for the venture.
According to Tambuwal, “it is (now) clear that sesame can grow in Sokoto state and the government of the state is willing to continue to support our farmers generally and specifically those that are involved in sesame farming as we did last year.”
Before the government’s intervention less than 10,000 hectares of sesame was cultivated in the state annually. However, when the government weighed in last year 2020 the production level got up to over 34,000 hectares.
In subsequent years, the government is optimistic that 91,000 hectares will cultivated such that it is envisaged that if bumper harvest is sustained and the weather is favorable in coming years, more than 100,000 jobs will be created annually in the state, assured the state Commissioner for Animal Health, who is also currently overseeing the ministry for agriculture, Prof. Abdulkadir Usman.
Expressing his satisfaction with the level of performance of the ministry and the farmers in the venture, Tambuwal said: “You have seen the output of this intervention. This is an international commodity. Sesame is in demand globally; and, if you can produce millions of tonnes of it, the market is there.
Globally, the market size for sesame seed, which shrunk from 2017-2020 increased and currently fetches $1075 per metric tonne, a development occasioned by prominent expansion of its consumption worldwide.
“We have the land. We have the right seed. We have the extension workers that are there to help the farmers out. We have given the mobility to go round. So why don’t we take advantage of these?,” Gov. Tambuwal charged the farmers as he pledged to provide more farmlands to them.
“If you don’t have a farm, go back to your local government (area) and register. Government is ready to provide more farmlands now to farmers. I hereby direct the Commissioner for Agriculture to liaise with the overseer of the ministry for local government affairs. This scheme should start immediately.
“All our farmers who are interested in having farmlands should go and register with the department of agriculture of the local government and then we sit down and look at how best we can encourage people to go back to farm. It is very important,” he added.
