FCT lawmaker trains 520 constituents on mechanized farming

Mr Micah Jiba, a member of House of Representatives, representing Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) and Bwari Federal Constituency, on Monday, organised training for 520 members of his constituency on mechanized farming and application of modern fertilizer.

Jiba, while declaring open the training programme in Abuja, said the measure was part of efforts to empower youths and women and enhance agricultural production in the territory.

He said that the exercise would support efforts of the Federal Government and the Federal Capital Territory Administration towards improving food security in the territory.

Represented by his Legislative Aide, Mr Emeka Orji, Jiba said exposing his constituents to mechanized farming would enable them to use surplus farm products profitably.

He said so many innovations were coming into agriculture and FCT farmers needed to be enlighten on those innovations to enable them move with their counterparts farmers around the globe.

“The essence of our gathering here today is that I observed that we have many rural communities in my constituency who engage in farming activities year in year out.

“Therefore, I decided that this training should be organised for them as part of my constituency project and empowerment programme to sensitise them on benefits of agriculture and mechanized farming.

” That is why we gathered here today. We invite expert from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to educate our rural dwellers on application of modern fertilizer.

“The FCT Federal constituency of AMAC and Bwari consist of two Area councils, so we have 300 participants from AMAC while we have 220 participants from Bwari, attending the training at Kubwa,” he said.

The lawmaker disclosed that at end of the five days training programme all the participants would be given at least N30,000 stipend to go home with to enable them practice what they had been thoughts.

Commenting on the training, one of the participants, Mrs Grace Alheri, said the training had exposed her to modern ways to handling and storing crops.

Alheri, therefore, expressed gratitude to the lawmaker for organizing the capacity building workshop for them.

She gave assurance that she would educate other farmers in her area that were not privilege to be part of the training. (NAN)