CBN’s intervention in maize cultivation boosts production by 60%- MAAN
The National President of Maize Association of Nigeria (MAAN), Dr Bello Abubakar Annoor Funtua, on Tuesday said the intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP), in maize cultivation has boosted the production of the commodity by 60 per cent between 2015 and 2020.
Funtua stated this during the inauguration of the 2021 wet season recovery and 2021/2022 dry season farming in the state.
While the inauguration of the 2021/2022 dry season farming was done in Dadin-Kowa community of Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area of Gombe state, the loan repayment ceremony was launched in Pindiga community in Akko Local Government Area of Gombe state.
He said the event was a prove of Federal Government’s investment in the agriculture sector and towards promoting all-year-round farming to boost food security in the country.
According to him, over 2, 000 maize farmers are benefitting from the CBN Anchor Borrowers Programme in Gombe state.
The maize farmers’ president stated that with the intervention of CBN in the agriculture sector from 2015, maize production has recorded a boost in the country.
“As at 2015, our annual maize production was eight million tonnes but in 2020, we recorded 20 million tonnes that’s an increase of 12 million tonnes.
“This is impressive as far as MAAN is concerned,” the maize farmers’ president said.
According to him, Nigeria is now maize-sufficient with the intervention of the Federal Government to support farmers across the country.
“This is why during the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic from 2019 to 2020 when the world shot their borders, we were able to feed ourselves.”
Funtua commended President Muhammadu Buhari for supporting farmers in the country through this “laudable” initiative and also to the CBN governor, Dr Godwin Emefiele, “ our friend, we say thank you.”
He stated that they were expecting 100 per cent recovery in Gombe state, adding that maize farmers in the country were responding positively to loan repayment.
He advised his members to understand that the intervention from the apex bank was neither a grant nor subsidy but a loan that must be repaid to enable government engage more farmers going forward.
On his part, MAAN’s special project coordinator, Gombe state chapter, Alhaji Adamu Tukur commended the Federal Government for early distribution of inputs for wet season farming in the state.
Tukur stated that the early inputs distribution ensured that farmers in the state prepared adequately and it also showed that the Federal Government was listening to the demands of farmers in that regard.
Mr Abdullahi Baba-Isa, Head, CBN’s Development and Finance Office, said that the Federal Government’s intervention in maize farming had yielded impressive results.
Baba-Isa stated that CBN’s intervention was to harness Nigeria’s potentials in agriculture sector, conserve foreign exchange, boost food availability, reduce unemployment amongst youths while discouraging food importation.
He stated that in Gombe state over 4,000 hectares were cultivated under the ABP for wet season farming and “ we expect about six or seven bags per hectare.”
The apex bank official said he was impressed with the rate of recovery in Pindiga cluster as 600 out of the 720 expected bags had been recovered.
Baba-Isa, therefore, urged other farmers to emulate the Pindiga gesture.
Our correspondent reports that the MAAN team, CBN official and the media visited one of the maize clusters in Dadin-Kowa where about 700 hectares of maize had been cultivated with modern irrigation facilities.
