BOA earmarks N200bn for 400,000 dry-season farmers

…..FMN targets five tonnes of wheat per hectare in 2026/2027 farming season By Muhammad Inuwa, Dutse The Bank of Agriculture (BOA) has earmarked about N200 billion to finance dry-season agricultural activities for 400,000 farmers across Nigeria as part of efforts to boost domestic food production and strengthen food security. The North-West Zonal Manager of the bank, Abdul-Razaq Datti Saleh, disclosed this at the flag-off of the 2026/2027 dry-season wheat farming programme organised in partnership with Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN) at Maje Village, Taura Local Government Area of Jigawa State.

Saleh explained that the financing would be channelled through farmer aggregator companies to enable individual farmers to access support for land preparation, irrigation, improved seeds, fertilisers and other essential agricultural inputs. He said the partnership with FMN was aimed at increasing domestic wheat production, reducing Nigeria’s dependence on imported wheat and strengthening food security.

According to him, wheat remains an important raw material for households and industries, adding that expanding local production would create employment opportunities, increase farmers’ incomes and strengthen rural economies. Also speaking, the General Manager of Golden Agro Input Limited (GAIL), a subsidiary of FMN Agro, Engineer Tayo Ilori, said the company was supporting 10,000 farmers across six states under the 2026 dry-season wheat programme.

He explained that each participating farmer received agricultural inputs for one hectare, comprising 100 kilogrammes of wheat seeds, six bags of urea, four bags of NPK 20:10:5 fertiliser and chemicals for weed and pest control. Ilori estimated the value of the input package at between N250,000 and N350,000 per hectare. He said the inputs were provided as loans, which farmers would repay with harvested wheat grains at prevailing market prices rather than through cash payments.

Ilori identified improved seeds, quality fertilisers and regular extension services as critical factors in increasing wheat productivity. He added that GAIL had deployed about 250 lead outgrowers to provide technical guidance and support to participating farmers across the six states. The company, he said, was targeting a yield of seven metric tonnes per hectare in the 2026/2027 season, expressing confidence that the target was achievable through the adoption of modern farming practices.

The Project Director, Engineer Olusegun Falade, said the programme had raised average wheat productivity from less than one tonne per hectare at its inception to about 4.2 tonnes, with some farmers recording yields of up to 7.2 tonnes. Falade identified farmers’ reluctance to repay loans, slow adoption of improved farming practices and land ownership challenges as some of the obstacles confronting the programme.

He, however, said loan repayment performance had improved from about 60 per cent to between 95 and 98 per cent in some cases. In his remarks, the National Wheat Development Programme Manager of Flour Mills of Nigeria, Aliyu Ismaila, said the initiative had recorded significant progress in developing Nigeria’s wheat value chain over the past five years.

He said the programme had increased average wheat yields from 1.2 tonnes per hectare to 2.5 tonnes in 2021 and 4.1 tonnes in the previous year. Ismaila said the company was targeting an average yield of five tonnes per hectare for the 2026 dry-season farming cycle, following successful cases of farmers recording between six and 7.2 tonnes. He further disclosed that the company had supported the expansion of Nigeria’s wheat seed supply from less than 200 metric tonnes to more than 10,000 metric tonnes, sufficient to cultivate over 100,000 hectares.

Meanwhile, some beneficiaries said the programme had improved their livelihoods, increased household incomes and created opportunities for rural farmers to remain in their communities rather than migrate to major cities in search of seasonal employment.