By Abdullahi Jalalludeen
The Kano State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr Danjuma Mahmud, says the state government has achieved remarkable progress in agricultural development and food security over the last three years, with an independent assessment rating the ministry’s performance at 80 per cent of its set targets.
Mahmud disclosed this during an interactive session with journalists in Kano, where he reviewed the achievements of the ministry under the administration of Gov. Abba Kabir Yusuf and outlined preparations for the 2026 wet season farming activities.
He said the ministry’s interventions were guided by the administration’s development blueprint and focused on improving farmers’ livelihoods, boosting productivity and reducing poverty.
According to him, one of the ministry’s first achievements was the establishment of a comprehensive farmers’ database across the state.
He explained that the exercise captured farmers’ identities, farm locations, sizes and contact details, providing reliable statistics for planning and collaboration with development partners, including the World Bank, African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, European Union and IFAD.
The commissioner said the state had also recorded significant progress in resolving farmer-herder conflicts through the demarcation of about 1,300 kilometres of cattle routes across Kano.
He noted that the initiative had improved peaceful coexistence and enhanced access to grazing routes for livestock owners.
Mahmud said the government rehabilitated irrigation facilities and recovered more than 1,230 acres of cultivable and irrigable land, including the restoration of the Kadawa irrigation farm to state ownership.
He added that the interventions had expanded opportunities for both wet and dry season farming across the state.
He further disclosed that the state government had procured and distributed over 630 trucks of fertiliser in collaboration with local governments, while additional fertiliser support received from the Federal Government was also distributed to farmers.
According to him, Gov. Yusuf at one point approved the free distribution of more than 60 trucks of fertiliser to encourage increased agricultural production.
The commissioner stated that the ministry facilitated the construction of about 72 kilometres of rural roads to ease the transportation of farm produce, while also supporting livestock vaccination programmes and promoting the use of climate-smart, drought-resistant and early-maturing seed varieties to improve yields and strengthen resilience to climate change.
Mahmud said the government had acquired modern agricultural machinery, including tractors, combine harvesters, transplanters, spraying equipment and rice processing facilities, which would soon be deployed across the state.
He added that solar-powered irrigation pumps had also been secured to reduce production costs and support all-year-round farming activities.
The commissioner highlighted the establishment of 20 milk collection centres and the construction of a major irrigation dam at Tansosia capable of storing three billion cubic litres of water and irrigating about 1,250 acres of farmland.
He added that 11 additional small earth dams had been developed across several local government areas to expand irrigation farming, expressing confidence that the ministry would surpass its current performance rating in the coming years.
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