The Permanent Secretary, state Ministry of Agriculture, Alhaji Sabiu Sani, disclosed this while defending the ministry’s 2020 budget before the House Committee on Agriculture at the state Assembly on Thursday.  He said the vision of the ministry was in line with that of the Federal Government, to improve agricultural productivity, create employment, reduce poverty, improve nutrition and ultimately, create a harmonious progressive society.

“Going by the closure of borders by the federal government in which there is no longer allocation of funds for importation of food, the ministry is now looking at other areas to improve farm production. “We are also looking at ways to generate more income to the state coffers. “Kaduna state is one of the major producers of ginger and maize, by the time we add that as one of our export products, that would be a plus to our farmers. “We are beginning to see the impact of our activities as it relates to other competitors locally and internationally,” Sani said. He said that the state government was doing all things possible to support farmers in the state by helping them to improve their productivity and increase the quality of their produce. In his remark, the Chairman, House Committee on Agriculture, Alhaji Hassan Abdukadir, said the committee was satisfied with the improvements in the ministry. According to him, the assembly is working to ensure that all the plans of the state are realised. (NAN)

SOURCE: DAILY TRUST