The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in conjunction with the Gombe State Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry have commenced the training of 50 cowpeas (beans) farmers aimed at improving their yields during harvest.
Tagged, ‘Emergency Training on Climate Resilient Practices in Cowpeas Production in the Northeast, Northwest and North central regions’, held at the Conference Hall of Fadama Office Gombe, the training was targeted at equipping the farmers with modern techniques and knowledge amidst the obvious global climate change.
According to Baba Gabriel Lila, the Acting Coordinator of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development office in Gombe State, the training is expected to trickle down to hundreds of bean farmers all over Gombe State.
He said the training is intended to mobilize and support the bean farmers so as to avoid low yields during harvest since a lot of the farmers are ignorant about climatic conditions that negatively affect their high yields.
The resource person for the training, Dr Joseph Hussaini Kaltungo, Acting Programme Manager of the Gombe State Agricultural Development Programme, said the training was timely because the farmers will be equipped with adequate knowledge about what to plant, when to plant and the agronomically accepted practices they need to follow for a successful enterprise.
Dr. Joseph said there is a great need to take advantage of the favourable climatic conditions for cowpeas farming in the drought tolerant Sudan sahelian sub-region of the Northeast.
He said, “apart from being a source of plant protein, since beef is becoming out of reach for the poor, cowpeas farming is a cash crop enterprise, a source of money for farmers especially here in the North.
Acting Permanent Secretary in the Gombe State Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Dr. Ibrahim Yakubu Usman, was delighted with the collaboration between the state and Federal Government in the training for cow-peas farming.
He said the State Government has always taken agriculture with all seriousness which is evident in the support it recently rendered by procuring 166,000 trucks of NPK Fertiliser at the cost of #2.8b for sale to farmers at a subsidised rate of #19,000 per bag.
