Nigerias Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has said that 80,000 Nigerian farmers will be trained as part of its 2013 Growth Enhancement Support (GES) scheme
The programme, which forms part of the government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda, was originally planned to run for two weeks from 18 March 2013, but has been further extended to benefit more farmers in Nigeria.
It will aim to reduce agricultural input costs, such as fertilisers and hybrid seeds, and enable growers to increase their yields.
The reason behind the time extension was that the scheme recorded a low turnout due to farmers lacking awareness of the programme, according to Charles Momo, Federal Capital Territory director of agriculture.
“We have extended the time to 4 April 2013 to make up for the Easter holidays. You know there was no work during the period; so, we decided to add three more days to make up for those days that we did not work,” he said.
"There was not enough awareness among the farmers but on its part, the ministry has done a lot. We have gone on air to sensitise farmers and we will not stop there because the exercise continues."
Momo stated that 48,000 Nigerian farmers had registered under the scheme in Q1 2013.
