A large expanse of land in Ayarkeke community in Awe Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, which hitherto lay fallow, is now a beehive of activities with tractors as they open up the virgin earth for cultivation.
This followed the flag-off of the 2025 wet cropping season by Governor Abdullahi Sule on Tuesday, June 1, in his massive rice production for food security.
A total of 3,500 hectares was earmarked for rice production in the second phase of the initiative which commenced last year.
The development brought to 5,500 the number of hectares the state government is cultivating out of the 10,000 hectares it acquired under the federal government‘s food security programme.
President Bola Tinubu stated in January 2024 that the federal government would cultivate about 500,000 hectares to combat hunger in the country.
“I am well aware that for some time now the conversations and debates have centered on the rising cost of living, high inflation, which is now above 28 per cent, and the unacceptable high under-employment rate.
“To ensure constant food supply, security and affordability, we will step up our plan to cultivate 500,000 hectares of farmlands across the country to grow maize, rice, wheat, millet and other staple crops,” Tinubu had stated.
Nasarawa was identified among the states that would play a key role in achieving the objective of the initiative.
Following the presidential directive, Governor Sule sprang into action by acquiring 10,000 hectares in Jangwa, also in Awe LGA, to enable his administration to effectively prosecute the programme.
Out of the hectares acquired, 2,000 were put to use for the cultivation of rice during the last cropping season. The effort paid off as the state government declared a bumper harvest at the end of the season. Not leaving anything to chance, Governor Sule in October 2024 supervised the first phase of the harvest.
Within the two days of the commencement of the exercise, 200 jumbo bags of rice were harvested from 14 hectares, using three combined harvesters, heightening expectations that the overall harvest would exceed the intended target.
When Vice President Kashim Shettima unveiled the paddy from the Jangwa Rice Farm in January 2025, he praised Governor Sule for spearheading the federal government’s food security initiative.
He commended Governor Sule for his “monumental accomplishments in agriculture”, a feat, he said, that put the state as “an agriculture powerhouse of the nation.“
“Beyond being the home of solid minerals, Nasarawa is in the position to feed the whole of the nation,” Shettima said.
At the flag-off of the second planting season in Ayarkeke, Governor Sule expressed optimism that the harvest at the end of the season would dwarf the success of the Jangwa initiative, drawing inspiration from President Tinubu‘s earlier call on the state to sustain its efforts in boosting agriculture for food security.
“Today, we are on the other side of Ayarkeke, which is at the border with Obi LGA. We are clearing another 3,500 hectares of land, and today, we are planting. After the visit of President Bola Tinubu, if you remember, he reminded Nasarawa State to continue to focus on agriculture. It is in line with that that we are going ahead with this expansion of the additional 3,000 hectares,“ the governor stated.
He explained that the 3,500 hectares of land was a virgin one belonging to the state government, noting that his administration was willing to accommodate local farmers by restricting farming activities to areas where there was no dispute over ownership.
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