The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced its plan to reinforce the 25,000 metric tonnes capacity silos in Dutsen-Ma, Katsina State, and to modernize it through the installation of an effective quality monitory system.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Abdulkardir Mu’azu, made this known during a familiarization tour of the silo facility classified as the second generation silos which are automated but not with the monitory system.
The Minister, Alhaji Muhammed Sabo Nanono and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture have been visiting the Strategic Grains Reserves Silos in the country to ensure that the system is made more functional and effective.
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Dr Mu’azu expressed his happiness during the visit after witnessing that the 25,000-tonne capacity silos was functional and contain 16,000 metric tonnes of grains-mainly maize and sorghum.
He further said that the facility had been constructed several years ago while there was hardly any effective automated system monitory for quality control assessment and that the Ministry will now consider investing in that.
Silo monitoring devices displays critical bin level measurement information such as bin name, serial number, material type, bin location, bin capacity, current inventory level, time to empty, consumption rate, sensor status, time of the last update as well as other related information.
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Installing the monitory system will enable the easy management of materials besides a strategic delivery plan to ensure everything runs smoothly and data is kept up-to-date.
The Director of the Strategic Grain Reserve, Engr Sule Haruna, said that grains can be stored for up to four years and that there is an ongoing plan towards the procurement of other silos too.
The representative of the farmers, Alhaji Sani Danjari, seized the opportunity to appeal to the Ministry for them to take part in the grains’ procurement process directly instead of giving it out to the non-farmers’ organizations.
