By Gabriel Atumeyi
365Daily – The Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal has expressed pleasure that the government’s intervention in Sesame cultivation is yielding tremendous benefits to the State.
He assured that the current administration is committed to supporting the Sesame farmers with the necessary tools and equipment to increase crops performance in the State.
Tambuwal added that in the past one year, in addition to its partnership with a Turkish firm, the State Government has provided seedlings of about 350,000 kilogrammes to farmers in the state, while an additional 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.
He made the disclosure during the inspection of the produce cleaning and standardisation process being undertaken by the State Ministry of Agriculture on Sunday, September 26, 2021.
“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,” Governor Tambuwal stated.
He added: “As a result of its multi-million intervention targeted towards enhancing sesame cultivation in the State, farmers in Sokoto state are now reaping appreciable benefits from their venture into this aspect of agriculture.
“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.”
Tambuwal explained that in subsequent years, the government is optimistic that 91,000 hectares will cultivated, such that if bumper harvest is sustained and the weather favourable, more than 100,000 jobs will be created annually in the State.
Expressing his satisfaction with the level of performance of the Ministry and the farmers, Tambuwal stated: “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.
He further admonished the farmers: “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