The
Katsina State Government says it has invested N200 million in rice and cotton
production under the Anchor Borrowers Programme in the state. Dr Abba Abdullahi, the Special
Adviser to Gov. Aminu Masari on Agriculture, disclosed this in Katsina on
Tuesday, at the opening of a town hall meeting on the programme.
The town hall meeting was organised by the state government in conjunction with
the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the co-sponsor of anchor borrowers programme.“We
have rice and cotton farmers that collected the CBN loan under the anchor
borrowers programme to boost rice and cotton production and the programme
needed supervision.We used the funds to supervise and inspect all the rice and cotton farms in
the 34 local government areas of the state.The Katsina state government
also purchased over 35 motorcycles for extension workers to visit rice and
cotton farmers with the aim of offering pieces of advice to them,” he said.
Abdullahi said that part of the fund was used for the repair of 15 vehicles for
officers involved in supervising the extension workers.Earlier, Alhaji
Shehu Musawa, the Managing Director, State Agricultural and Rural Development
Project (KATARDA), said the stakeholders’ meeting was to review how the
programme fared during the rainy season.Anchor borrowers programme has achieved the desired goal in the state as it
has boosted rice and cotton production.“We are expecting bumper harvest
of cotton and rice in the state,” Abdullahi said.In his contribution,
Keystone Bank’s representative, Malam Ahmed Musa, said that the bank would
continue to support agricultural programmes in the state.
Source: Daily Trust, Nigeria Monday, 16 October 2017