The Bauchi State government says it is set to resuscitate cotton ginnery in the state to complement Federal Government's effort at reviving the nation's ailing textile industries.
Dr Dauda Abdullahi, the Permanent Secretary in the state Ministry of Agriculture, disclosed this to newsmen during an advocacy visit to cotton farmers in Kirfi Local Government Area of the state on Tuesday.
Abdullahi said that the state government had set up a cotton revival committee to mobilise the citizens to engage in massive cotton production that would serve as raw materials for the proposed ginnery in the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in 1951 a cotton ginnery was established at Misau under the British Cotton Growing Association but was not sustained due to poor production of the commodity by farmers in the state.
The Misau Ginnery processed cotton produced in the former Bauchi province and other ginneries in the former Northern Nigeria and was a huge source of foreign exchange for the province and the region in general.
Abdullahi added that the new ginnery would be operated under the public-private partnership agreement with reputable experts in the marketing and processing of cotton to make it viable and of international standard.
He explained that the state would also collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to address the production, processing and marketing of the product from the ginnery.
The permanent secretary disclosed that 510 farmers would be engaged during this cropping season to cultivate at least two hectares of cotton as a pilot scheme.
He added that agriculture extension workers and farmers were also to be trained on modern cotton farming techniques.
Abdullahi stressed that government would also procure and distribute improved cotton seeds, other agricultural inputs, as well as agro-chemicals for the revival of the cotton industry in the state.
The State Cotton Production Revival Committee chaired by the state Deputy Governor, Alhaji Sagir Saleh, also has the Commissioners of Agriculture, Local Government Affairs and Information as members. (NAN)