Jigawa state government says it has trained 400 unemployed youths on hybrid date palm production and processing to provide the youths a means of livelihood and reduce unemployment rate in the state.
Speaking at the graduation of the trained youths at the NYSC Orientation Camp in Dutse on Monday, Governor Umar Namadi said the initiative aligned with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
Chairman of the project committee and Jigawa state Chief of Staff, Sen. Mustapha Makama, expressed delight for the success of the first batch of the project
He said that the commitment of the state government in boosting agriculture and youths empowerment gave birth to the project.
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According to Makama, “About 10,000 hybrid seedlings have been secured for the project, which would be of benefit to the youths and the state.
“Gov. Namadi has ordered that free seedlings should be planted, free watering materials and free mentorship be offered to the trained youths,” he said.
He, however, revealed that more batches of the training were under way, adding that more than 2,000 youths were expected to benefit from the programme.
The Jigawa state Coordinator of the Nigeria Institute for Oil-palm Research, NIFOR, Mr Abdulhamid Hamza, explained that the hybrid seedlings were used for the project.
“The seedlings can produce over 70 kilos for a start and can generate N7 million monthly if well taken care of,” the coordinator said.
He revealed that Jigawa state soil had the natural gift of producing date fruits twice a year, whereas many countries only produce once annually.
The Coordinator explained that the youths were not only trained on date production, rather they were trained on the whole date palm value chain for better productivity.
Hamza said that the efforts of the state government in providing job opportunities through farming was to inculcate the spirit of doggedness among Jigawa youths.
The Director General, Jigawa state Institute of Research, Dr Sulaiman Rufai, commended the Namadi administration for the project.
He revealed that the government had offered 1,042 hectares of land and targeted the training of 2,084 youths in the project.
Rufai commended the resilience of the youths during the in-House training, urging them to commit more and expect a close monitoring as they embark on the farming.
Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Mr Musa Abdullahi, lauded the government for the project.
“We have all learnt that date palm can be processed in four varieties of Juice, Syrup, Powder and the seeds can produce coffee,” he said.
He pledged that the beneficiaries would utilise the knowledge for the benefit of the state and the nation at large.
NAN
