A typical tiller

By Abdallah el-Kurebe

Farmers in the 23 local government areas of Sokoto State are to be provided with 1,000 hand tillers in the first instance, Governor Aminu Tambuwal has promised.

He stated this in Sokoto on Tuesday during farmers’ stakeholders’ forum
organized by the Technical Committee on Immediate Framework for Agricultural Development (TCIFAD) in the state.

The distribution of the tillers, already procured by the state government, Tambuwal said, was part of efforts to mechanize agriculture in the state as well as reinvigorate the Tractor Hiring Scheme in partnership with some
agricultural firms in the country.

“The state government will soon inaugurate its commodity marketing boards to be charged with the duty of buying surplus farm produce from the farmers. This is to enable them get value for their investments and to encourage more people to engage in farming to produce food for local consumption and exports,” he stated.

Tambuwal further stated that the state government would soon distribute fertilizers as well as other farm inputs, adding that the state government would also conduct a
baseline survey of farmers and their activities.

While calling on the people of the state to revert to the farms as a way of diversifying the nation’s
oil-dependent economy, Sultan Saad Abubakar also called for the provision of soft loans to genuine
farmers.