The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, has stated that the Federal Government of Nigeria aims to achieve an output value of approximately N160 billion from wheat production for the 2025/2026 dry season, as part of its efforts to enhance food sovereignty and reduce dependence on imports.

The minister made this known during the flag-off of the Subsidized Agricultural inputs Distribution of 2025/2026 dry season wheat production programme under the National Agricultural Growth and Agro Pocket Project (NAGS-AP) held in Jere Local Government Area, Borno State.

Sen Kyari revealed that the Ministry, through NAGS-AP Programme, has earmarked 40,000 hectares of land for 2025/2026 dry season wheat production and registered 80,000 farmers, with an expected output value of approximately ₦160 billion.

He said that out of the 40,000 hectares earmarked for wheat production this dry season, 3,000 hectares have been allocated to Borno State, with 6,000 registered wheat farmers.

The minister recalled “Under the 2023/2024 dry season wheat production programme, a total of 107,429 registered farmers were supported with critical subsidised inputs, resulting in an output valued at ₦474,628,000. During the 2024/2025 dry season, 279,297 registered farmers received support, with an output valued at ₦893,750,004 billion.

He noted that “for the current 2025/2026 season, the programme is targeting 80,000 registered farmers with an expected output value of approximately ₦160 billion.

He said the NAGS-AP programme would deploy Agricultural Extension Agents to guide farmers on modern agronomic practices and provide continuous field-level advisory services.

He added that “Fertiliser and Seed Quality Control Officers will be mobilised to ensure that all inputs delivered to farmers meet the required standards, thereby guaranteeing higher productivity and improved yields,”.

According to him, “the wheat component of the NAGSAP programme covers sixteen states of the federation”

“These are Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Cross River, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, and Zamfara. The inclusion of Cross River last year expanded wheat production into the southern region for the first time and strengthened our national capacity to diversify production across ecological zones,”