By Paul Orude
Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Katsina State, Dr Dikko Radda, has promised to establish Agricultural Extension Services Board if elected.
Radda explained that the Board would be saddled with the responsibility of developing and implementing agricultural extension services in the state.
He said the Board would consolidate existing extension services and introduce new strategies in line with building a future Strategy Policy for the state.
He said the Board would also focus on building the technical and organisation capacity of farmers in the state , including creation and strengthening of farmers’ cooperatives.
The APC gubernatorial candidate said the Board would also support farmers to plan and implement market-oriented production, processing and marketing of agricultural activities.
Radda said the Board would promote partnership with national research institutes to strengthen the capacity of those in the State through forging closer links with external research institutes.
‘We will promote research and develop new seed varieties,’ he said
‘Local seed production would be scaled up significantly on priority crops to reduce reliance on imports,’ he said.
The APC Guber candidate said the Board would also work with the private sector to launch a decentralised extension service for all stakeholders in the agricultural sector.
‘This will include the establishment of demonstration with the Community Innovation Centres (CICs)’
Radda said the Board would also focus on access to general agricultural education opportunities and research systems.
