By Awyetu Asabe Hope
Ginger production is showing signs of recovery in Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State following an intervention by the Bank of Agriculture to revive the sector after a devastating ginger blight outbreak.
The intervention has reached about 3,400 farmers across 15 clusters, providing planting materials and agricultural extension services to support production.
According to a statement issued by the bank on Sunday, its Managing Director, Ayodeji Sotinrin, disclosed this during a visit to ginger farms in Kachia to inspect mature crops and harvested produce under the programme.
Sotinrin said some of the harvested ginger would be used for tissue culture to produce planting materials on a larger scale and extend the intervention to more farmers.
He added that the bank was working towards establishing ginger nurseries in 16 states to expand cultivation beyond the areas currently covered by the programme.
The BOA managing director projected that Nigeria’s ginger production could reach three million tonnes within five years if the recovery efforts and expansion plans were sustained.
He said the target could generate an estimated $3bn in economic value and significantly increase farmers’ earnings.
“The people that you’ll call poor farmers or vulnerable farmers, they’re the ones that will be making N70 to N80 million per hectare, not me,” he said, referring to the potential earnings from ginger cultivation.
Sotinrin also said the bank was providing agricultural loans at an interest rate of nine per cent in line with the Federal Government’s directive to improve access to affordable credit.
He noted that the bank was working with the Federal Government on interventions across other agricultural value chains to boost food production and farmers’ incomes.
Citing the Guaranteed Minimum Price programme for maize, he said government purchases at a guaranteed floor price had helped improve market prices and encouraged farmers to sustain production.
He added that the bank was exploring ways to support cassava farmers by partnering with processors of cassava derivatives to purchase produce left on farms and offer farmers better prices.
Sotinrin estimated that the ginger sector had recovered to about 30 per cent of its previous capacity, expressing optimism that sustained support could accelerate recovery within the next two years.
He also said the intervention targeted at least 50 per cent female participation, although he did not disclose the number of women benefiting from the programme.
The programme is supported by Agrolog, which coordinates participating farmers into clusters and provides extension services to guide cultivation and monitor crop development.
Agrolog’s Operations Manager, Cham Yakubu, said the organisation was responsible for coordinating farmers and providing the technical support needed to improve production.
Yakubu added that the programme had also covered internally displaced farmers affected by insecurity, with more than 900 included in one cluster and expected to begin harvesting within three weeks of an earlier assessment.
