Dr. Mohammad Abubakar, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development has said that about 56% of arable land in Nigeria is presently not in use, leaving this natural asset unexplored. He mentioned this during the 45th meeting of the National Council on Agriculture and Rural Development, as he addressed the participants.

“Nigeria is endowed with a total of 79million hectares of agricultural land with only 44% being cultivated. The nation also has 267 billion cubic meters of fresh surface water and 58 billion cubic meters of underground water, with 37 billion cubic meters only stored in dams.

Annual rainfall in the country is within 300mm to 4,000mm. Conversely, the potential irrigable area is about 3.14 million hectares, less than 7% presently utilized.” He stated.