Yakubu Busari
Plateau state Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Hosea Istifanus Finangwai has said, Plateau state will soon commence producing 24 metric tons of potatoes as one of the beneficiary African Development Bank, ADB, to support, boost potato value chain support project in Nigeria.
Speaking to journalists at the ground breaking ceremony of Plateau state, Potato value chain support project ADB assisted state infrastructure for tissues culture laboratory along Gindiri Road in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau state, Dr. Finangwai said ,the potato value chain support project was introduce to improve the potatoes farming activities in 9 Local government areas of Plateau state and to help in fighting poverty and to also create jobs to our teaming unemployed youth .
According to him, the permanent site was aimed at controlling pesticides, disease control and improves variety of crops especially with research going on high yields potatoes to replace the old variety which was introduced since 1989.
He explained further that the Lalong administration came in with agricultural revolutionary policy and tackle the present climate change which had continue to affected post-harvest lost to our farmers and the challenges of storage ,processing and marketing .
Dr. Finangwai maintained that the rural, cottages industries stand to benefit tremendously on the components and to make agriculture attractive to encourage youth participation in farming activities.
He commended the ADB and Governor Simon Lalong for paying the counterpart funds for the farmers to also improve their productivity, create employment opportunity and stimulating climate change which is beginning to ravage our farms.
Hosea said the focus is to look into diseases that affect yield and bring in improve control variety with low moisture because of the shortest of rainfalls that reduce farmers turnover.
The state Coordinator Tomas Moupship emphasized that one of the major challenges of farmers is lack of store house, reservation and diseases control.
He said Plateau state is one of the states that enjoy 95% of potato producing in the country and in the last 4 years potatoes farming communities was complaining of devastating effect of the outbreak of disease.
Moupshin quality of seeds brought into the state in 1983 couldn’t produce mass production and government in the past 12 years went into research to find a solution until the 2 years a research team came up with the new method which is working.
