By; SANI ALIYU, Zaria
The Director Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) Professor Mohammed Faguji Ishiyaku has advised dry season farmers to give grain production more emphasis than vegetables.
He gave the advise in an interactive session with journalists in Zaria, adding that considering the low production of grains during the raining season as a result of the nationwide lockdown and security challenges in most grain production areas, it was important to produce them during the dry season farming.
Prof. Faguji Ishiyaku said that farmers must commit themselves more to food production so that the wide gap created by the COVID-19 and insecurity challenges will be covered.
According to him, the COVID-19 pandemic has not made agricultural production handcapped completely and for that, urgent measures had to be taken to save the country from food shortage.
He suggested that federal, states and local government areas should introduce incentives to farmers that can assist them to cover their losses during production.
The Director emphased that if farmers were properly supported, they will produce food in deficit which will lead to the price of food stuff reducing and affordable to the common man.
Professor Ishiyaku said that the institute released three new sweet sorghum varieties in 2020 for the production of Sugar light syrup and also six new varieties of maize.
