By Our Correspondent
Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has visited the state-owned Jangwa rice farm in Awe Local Government Area as part of preparations towards harvesting the farm
Governor Sule who inspected the farm on Thursday, expressed satisfaction with the quality and quantity of rice being cultivated on the farm.
The Governor was confident that the Jangwa rice farm would be harvested latest by the first week of November.
He also expressed satisfaction with the yield on the farm, projecting a bumper harvest of over eight tones per hectare.
Speaking with journalists shortly after a tour of the farm, Governor Sule emphasized on the purpose of the visit which afforded him the opportunity to see things for himself preparatory to the harvest.
“We started this work somewhere around May and it is actually six months, that is 180 days rice. We are just about to start harvesting and I believe strongly that before we start, I needed to come to the farm to make sure that everything is okay for us to start harvesting so we can get our best yield,” he stated.
He was particularly excited about the quantity of rice expected from the harvest.
“This is because we are very conservative with our calculations. We calculated a yield of about six tones per hectare. But from all indications, we are looking at something more than eight tones per hectare,” he said.
The Governor took out time to speak on the line of activities expected at the Jangwa farm particularly that the government is working to cultivate rice on the farm twice a year.
“We are hoping that we can finish our harvesting this October or maybe early November. Immediately we finished harvesting, we are going to start land preparations. Once we are through with the land preparations, then we are getting ready to start another planting.
“We are hoping that throughout the period of Christmas that is the period that we will do most of our planting and hopefully conclude before the middle of January. If that happens by the grace of God, then it’s time for us to ensure that we go ahead and think of another planting in the month of May. We are working on two-season rice farming on this location,” he added.
Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his October 1st address marking the 64th independence anniversary of Nigeria, commended Governor Sule for embracing the agricultural production programme of his administration aimed at boosting food security in the country.
Governor Sule used the opportunity of the visit to inspect the ongoing construction of the Ribi-Jangwa-Agwatashi Road, where he directed the contractor handling the project to speed up work with a view to completing the road on time.
While expressing dissatisfaction with the progress of work at the site, he urged the contractor to commit more equipment on the site to fast track the completion of the project.
“We awarded this road not necessarily because of the farm but because of the good people of Jangwa. Jangwa is one area that have shown love for our party and have shown love for me. They have even given me a title here during the campaigns in 2018. When they came to receive me at the bridge about 2km from the town and took me all the way, with most of the children on foot following us. I was emotionally concerned about that. When the period came, I vowed that by the grace of God, I will be one Governor who will construct road to Jangwa,” he explained.