KANO – Abubakar Haruna Galadanchi
The Kano State Government says all efforts have been in place to partner with private investors to boost tomato production in the state.
Commissioner of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Nasiru Gawuna, made this known on Friday.
Dr. Gawuna said the state government was ready to allocate farms to private investors to produce the commodity in large commercial quantity for sale to the Dangote Tomato Processing Company and interested individuals across and outside the state.
“The plan is we will allocate the farms to interested private investors as well as individuals who would produce the commodity and sell it to people for local consumption at a cheaper price so as to reduce the high cost of daily needed items in the state.
Hon. Commissioner said the initiative would go long way in boosting production of the commodity in addition to providing Tomato Processing Companies with adequate raw materials for their operation.
“And this is what we did at Kadawa where we set aside many farms for tomato production as a trialand. Thank God we have seen a fruitful result for this short trial, Gawuna said.
The state government had concluded arrangements to support farmers to boost the production of the commodity in the state and he attributed the decline in tomato production in the state in recent times to pest infection which has now been cleared.
As I am speaking to you, the state government has set up a committee called Innovative Platform on Tomato to ensure effective implementation of the government plans.
He also disclosed that the state government had concluded arrangements to construct boreholes at all irrigation sites across the 44 local government areas of the state to enhance irrigation activities.
Gawuna said the measure became necessary in order to ensure massive production of some selected commodities especially groundnut, maize and wheat, among others in the state.
“The initiative will not only provide job opportunities to the teeming youths in Kano but will also check rural-urban drift especially among youths, Dr. Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna said.
It can be recall that due to the decline in the production of the commodity in Kano and other neighbouring states, the Dangote Tomato Processing Company has yet to resume production since the outbreak of the tomato disease known as Tuta Absoluta about two years ago.
