Sorghum transformation programme to generate 200,000 Nigerian jobs

The Sorghum Transformation Programme of Nigeria's Federal Government is to generate 200,000 jobs in farming related activities in Adamawa State.

The team leader of the programme, Prof Babatunde Obilana, said the hybrid sorghum to be introduced next year would increase farmers' yield by more than 300 per cent, making them to realise an income of N150,000 per hectare as against the present N26,000 per hectare.

Obilana said Adamawa State, being the leading producer of sorghum, would benefit immensely from the programme that would add more value to sorghum production. He added that the Federal Government would among others use fortified food to be made from sorghum for its proposed primary school feeding programme.

In his remarks, the Adamawa Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Tijjani Maksha, said the state government on it part had embarked on general transformation of agriculture by establishing farming skills acquisition centres in all the 21 local government areas for rural farmers to be trained in modern farming techniques.

Maksha said so far about 40,000 farmers had been trained while government had purchased and distributed 260 metric tonnes of assorted high yielding varieties of certified seeds to the farmers.

NAN