By Ezekiel Dontinna
Plateau State Government has embarked on an assessment tour to the Pioneer Milling Company and BARC Farms Zalaki, in Bassa Local Government Area of the State to ascertain the status of facilities in place.
This was with the view to resuscitate and make operational the farm as it was in the past and hand it over to Plateau Youths, as being part of Governor Mutfwang led administration’s efforts to make agriculture attractive for young people in the state.
Advocating for the youths involvement into the Agricultural Empowerment Program Initiative, the Leader of the delegation, Mr Yari Kumchi, outlined the extension services, tractors, fertilizers and other necessary farm inputs that would be made available to ensure that the vast farm is maximized.
He also announced that up takers for farm products were ready and available and called on youths on the Plateau to take advantage of this initiative to empower themselves.
“As it stands now, the assurance we have is that whatever crop we plant, we will get uptake for it. There are people waiting to take up more. Some of them will even be here with us on the farm.
“We are going to farm everything that is available to farm. For instance, we are going to have enough tractors right here with us—not that they will come, work, go away, and return later. We will have all the fertilizer we need. We will have all the inputs we need.
“We don’t want any youth to have an excuse, saying they have nothing to do. The idea is to recreate agriculture in such a way that it will look so attractive—even tempting—to people working in lucrative offices”, he emphasised.
Kumchi, disclosed that, the His Excellency, the Executive Governor earlier took them to Ibadan, where the Special Agro-Processing Zone was being practised with others to Benin best model.
He said, “we made a presentation to His Excellency the day before yesterday, and believing that these are the best models we want to replicate here. It is working.
“Fortunately for us, we have a government that is willing to support us with its sweat and blood. Whatever we need is going to be provided”, the Leader expressed optimism.
“If you are ready to farm, this place is about 4,000 hectares there is about 3,100 hectares available for us to farm. If, for example, we have 1,000 youths, and you share 3,000 hectares among them, each youth will have about 3 hectares”, Kumchi highlighted.
On their parts, members of the delegation commended the Executive Governor of Plateau State for the initiative and encouraged Plateau Youths to take full advantage as they pledged their support the initiative in different ways possible.
Appreciating Governor Mutfwang for the initiative, Special Adviser to the Governor on Youth Mobilization and Engagement Hon Joshua Pwajok Hitler, expressed optimism pledging the commitment of Plateau Youths during the assessment tour by the Plateau Youths Council EXCO and Plateau Indigenous Youths.
“We are committed to giving our best this time, and the youth must recognize the immense potential of this place. We have tagged this initiative as “Plateau Youths in Agriculture Empowerment Project”.
“The goal is to ensure that while gaining knowledge here, you also pass it on. We will be implementing similar projects across various local governments, and you might become the pioneer leaders of agribusiness in your respective areas.”
“Now that His Excellency has provided funding, more support will follow. Who knows? With the different crops we plan to cultivate in various zones, this small farm could produce future millionaires”, he noted.
However, the Pioneer Milling Company (PMC)/BARC Farms is a vast land of over 4,000 hectres owned by the Plateau State Government, located in Bassa Local Government Area, 30 minutes drive from the heart of Jos, the Plateau State capital.
The farm comprises of hectres of flat land, mountains and a dam which has a ready source of water for the farm. The farm presents both an economic asset and a tourist site for investors. The farm is fertile and can grow varieties of crops.
As at the time of filing this report, a technical team comprising on Building & Construction Experts and Geologists were on ground to determine the standard of structures on ground and also ensure the availability of water on the proposed farm camp ahead of the full take-off of activities on the farm respectively.
The delegation led by Mr Yari Kumchi, alongside team of government officials among whom were the Special Adviser to the Governor on Youths Mobilization and Engagement, Hon Joshua Pwajok Hitler and Special Adviser to the Governor on Local Government Administration, Hon Jonathan Dabo respectively.
Others included; Director General, Plateau Environmental Protection and Sanitation Agency, Mr Samuel Dapiya, General Managers, Plateau Express Services and Jos Metropolitan Development Board (JMDB) Mr Samuel Gwott and Arch Hart Bankat, as well as the Executive Secretary of the Plateau State Drugs and Medical Commodities Development Agency Pharm Kim Bot in that order.
Also, were Pharm John Chung, Director, Plateau State Liason Office Abuja, Nurse Ndak Kizito, the State Manager of IMPACT, PYC Chairman Diplomat Panan Gongdeng Dapar and representative of Plateau Indigenous Youths Comrade Isaac Itse among many others in company of security agencies.
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