The acting Coordinator of the FCT Fadama III Additional Finance (AD) Mr. Rotimi Ajayi, has said the programme has so far contributed in no small measure to the domestic production of rice in the territory.
Mr. Ajayi stated this at the 2019 dry season rice production farmers green field day organised by Noma Tushin Arziki Rice Production Group in Yaba, Abaji Area Council last Friday.
He said the contribution was made through training and funding support of rice farmers in the area of rice seed multiplication, adoption of proven rice production technology like the SAWH eco technology for rice farming, among others.
According to him, the transfer of such technologies and their adoption had resulted to production of over 84MT of Faro seed by 20 members of the Fogbe rice production cluster.
He said the Fadama III Additional Finance (AD) project supported cluster of farmers in communities across the FCT, which he said had comparative advantage and high potential to increase production of cassava, rice and sorghum value chains.
In his keynote address, the FCT Secretary for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Stanley Izekwe Ifeanyi, represented by the Head of Monitoring and Evaluation of Agricultural Development Project (ADP), Tijjani Lamidi, noted that the Fadama III project was aimed at scaling up the impact and effectiveness of Fadama Development Project.
He said providing technical assistance to clusters of farmers for seed multiplication and acquisition of appropriate agriculture machinery was paramount to the project.
“We at ARDS are equally impressed with the effort made so far by the project in the implementation of Fadama III Additional Finance project in the areas of mobilisation and formation of potential groups, “ he said.
On his part, the Etsu of Yaba, Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, urged his subjects to be more committed to farming, saying he had lodged a complaint before the agric secretariat to provide all the graded chiefs with tractors.
