Nigerian farmers on Saturday called on the federal government to provide security and affordable farm inputs like seeds, insecticides, herbicides, and fertilisers to boost food production.

Kabir Ibrahim, President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), told journalists in Abuja on Friday that farmers needed some mechanisation.

He said insecurity prevented farmers from going to the farm, adding that farmers needed a sense of security alongside other requirements to enable them to put in more work on the farms.

Mr Kabir advised that what technology incubation centres across the country could produce should be boosted to facilitate indigenous technologies that could be applied in agriculture.

He said various farm tools and implements for tractors could be manufactured in the country via the technology incubation centres.

The AFAN boss stressed that instead of waiting to import the parts of a broken-down tractor, Nigeria should support and encourage citizens to participate in local manufacturing.

He said that it has become increasingly difficult to import foods in recent times, and to help Nigeria become self-reliant in food production, the government should leverage genome-edited crops and genetically modified organisms.

“We need all efforts to make food available because now, you cannot even import; every country is on its own.

“Our scientists are busy; they need to be helped; we need to patronise them; their products should be made available to farmers.

“This is the only way to get out because you cannot go and buy food from anywhere,’’ he said.

Reacting to the recently concluded four-day workshop on the genome, editing communication, and advocacy strategy, organised by AUDA-NEPDA/NABDA, Mr Kabir said it was a good initiative.

“All that farmers want to see is a good yield from the seeds that are made available to them; they will not even ask questions,’’ he said.

According to him, the communication farmers expect to hear is how to get the seed type, the cost, and the difference they will make from what they are already used to.

(NAN)