The Gombe State government says it has began provision of extension services to farmers to boost food security and improve their incomes.
Dr Joseph Hussaini, Director, Technical Services, Gombe State Agricultural Development Programme (GADP), disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe on Wednesday.
Hussaini said the gesture was borne out of the need to ensure that farmers in the state were given the right information on best agronomic practices to improve their yields and get good returns on their investments.
He said if farmers continued to use their traditional approach of farming to attain food sufficiency, they would not get the best from the vocation.
The director said extension services were a critical aspect of modern-day agriculture, hence the state ADP’s resolved to strengthen extension service provision in all its offices in the state.
“Ahead of the wet season for this year, we have opened what we call extension clinics where we empower farmers with the required information to help them boost their yield and escape poverty.
“This we do yearly and we are enhancing the knowledge of farmers before every planting season to make sure they don’t make losses as they engage in the vocation of farming.
“Anyone who needs knowledge on Good Agronomic Practices (GAPs), we render them our services free of charge in the interest of food security and welfare of farmers,” he said.
According to him, the administration of Gov. Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State has prioritised agricultural sector and has been providing funds for agriculture researches to get better ways of improving the sector.
He said the outcomes of those researches had been documented and formed part of the extension services being offered to farmers across the state.
Hussaini said some of the extension services being provided to farmers include knowledge on the right seeds, how to boost soil health, rainfall regime, fertilisers application, how to tackle diseases and others.
He appealed to youths and other farmers in the state to leverage on the opportunity provided by the ADP to get the right knowledge before embarking on any farming activities.(NAN)
