Part of the mandate of the Department of Agric in the district is to sensitize farmers about government policies and programs, educate them on pets and diseases, and control diseases on farm produce in the district.
The Hon. DCE thank all stakeholders, farmers and encourage each and every one to participate in the program so that the district can reduced poverty and hungry.
The department sensitizes stakeholders and some farmers on the PFJ2.0 model on how to register on the web portal for the program.
The stakeholders were taken through the process and the application procedures for the PFJ 2.0 model. Some farmers give consent about the selection of the input dealers.
The director of Agriculture said the Agric Extension Officers will be on the field to register farmers with the number of acres they have and the AEO will measure it. The director said the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has been implementing the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) since 2017. There were five (5) modules of the PFJ campaign: Food Crops, Livestock, Tree Crops, Horticulture, and Mechanization.
The key objectives were to:
(a) Ensure food security.
(b) Increase productivity and production.
(c) Promote import substitution.
(d) Promote exports.
(e) Promote value addition and agro-processing, and
(f) Create jobs and wealth, especially for the youth.
Key achievements include:
- Average agricultural sector growth rate of 6.3% (2017-2021) from 2.6% (2016)
- Food Self-sufficiency in major food staples such as maize, cassava, plantain, etc.
- Increased crop yields for maize, rice, and soya by 135%, 67%, and 18% respectively.
- Increased domestic production of rice (570,000mt to 1,143,000mt, 2016 to 2021 respectively)
- Increased use of certified seed and fertilizer
– Seed (10% to 35%, 2016 to 2021)
– Fertilizer (12kg/ha to 25kg/ha, 2012 to 2021)
- Increase in non-traditional agriculture exports, e.g. yams
The PFJ encountered some limitations during its implementation, These include the following:
- Limited access to agricultural credit.
- Limited adoption and application of the value chain approach.
- Limited focus on commercial large-scale farmers.
- The budgetary strain on the government.
- Low prioritization of national food storage capacity.
In conclusion, the director said, the government has selected an aggregator in all MMDAs to provide farm input on credit to farmers and farmers will pay back after they harvest their farm produce, he also thanked all participants for their contributions and input to make the program successful.