Crown Flour Mill Ltd. has restated its commitment toward supporting wheat farmers in order to boost local wheat production in Kano state.
The Managing Director of the company, Mr Ashish Pande, Represented by Head, Human Resources, Mr Danjuma Datti, made the commitment during a courtesy visit to Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje, in Kano on Tuesday.
Pande said that Crown Flour Mill, a subsidiary of Olam International, was committed to improving wheat production, through adequate financing and research in Kano and the country in general.
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He said that the company, in partnership with the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) and Lake Chad Research Institute was committed to investing in research to improve wheat cultivation in the country.
“The effect of this investment is the provision of inputs, training, and research infrastructure to boost yields and economically empower smallholder wheat farmers.
“We have worked with ICARDA on the heat-tolerant wheat varieties in the Senegal basin area along with the award-winning seed scientist, Dr. Filippo Bassist.
“We are looking to extend the benefits of the success recorded there to Wheat farming in Nigeria,” the managing director said.
He said that representatives of the company have interacted with wheat farmers in the state to build relationships with a view to understanding their major challenges and how they would support them.
Pande appealed to the state governor to partner with the group and provide them 10 hectares of arable land for the establishment of research site.
The Deputy Governor, Alhaji Nasiru Gawuna, who represented the governor, said that the partnership would achieve the goal of the administration’s agenda in the agriculture sector and create the desired value chain.
Gawuna, also the Commissioner for Agriculture said that the state was looking forward to partnering with the organisations across the wheat value chain to improve production.
He reiterated the commitment of the state in boosting food production and promised to look into the request of the group while assuring them
