Agronomist Identifies High-yield Variety Crops In Damaturu

Damaturu, Alhaji Barnoma Yelemoi

An Agronomist in Damaturu, Alhaji Barnoma Yelemoi,said he had identified varieties of cash crops that provided excessive yields when cultivated in Damaturu and its environs.

Yelemoi, a retired staff of Yobe Agricultural Development Programme and presently, the General Manager of a private Agro-allied enterprise, Fanzar Mixed Farms, Damaturu, Yobe, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Damaturu on Friday.

He listed the high-yield varieties to include those of sesame seeds, bambara nuts, beans and groundnuts, that could make the even a subsistence have extra for sales to generate income.

“The climate, rainfall pattern and soil in Damaturu and the environs are most suitable for the production of these crops, which can rapidly assist in empowering the ordinary people that are struggling to recover from hardships occasioned by the many years of security challenges.

“We have cultivated 97 hectares of land with sesame seeds, bambara nuts, ground nuts, cassava and beans, as well as two hectares of fruits plantation with improved variety of orange, guava, banana, mango and citrus.
“Our experience has been very rewarding, as such we are extending extension services to the host communities as part of our community development programme,” he said.

He said Moringa leaves and seeds were also on high demand and could be cultivated on the vast lands in Damaturu, adding that their experiment had indicated high yields.

“There are huge potentials here that can be transferred to youth for economic empowerment, self-reliance and to reduce over-dependence on government.

“The North Eastern state governments need to partner with the private investors, to explore these avenues to create employment opportunities and improve the economies of their states that had been devastated as a result of the activities of insurgents,’’ he advised.

Yelemoi said that Fanzar Farms had employed a lot of youth who were being trained on modern farming techniques, as well as providing improved variety seeds to young farmers at highly subsidized rates.