By Henry Umahi

However, Governor Caleb Mutfwang is changing the narrative. He recently  disclosed that the so-called Irish potatoes have been renamed ‘Plateau Potatoes’, even as he unveiled his administration’s plans to introduce high-yield potato breeds in partnership with Agrico, a Dutch company renowned for innovation in the global potato value chain.

Maintaining that Plateau State has the most blessed land in the country, Mutfwang said: “Our advantage in agriculture is God-given. Ninety percent of what we used to call Irish potatoes are produced here. We have renamed it Plateau Potatoes because I think we deserve the exclusive rights in the propagation and production of potatoes. We are making plans to really revolutionize the farming and production and processing of those potatoes in the next three to five years.

“We began to lay the foundation, which is really the secret is about getting the right seeds, which we haven’t had until we came on board. We are planning, we are strategizing. We are in talks presently with a company called Agrico, which is a Dutch-based company that is the largest multiplier of seeds in the world, and they visited us here.

“And it will interest you to also know that we earned the right to host the African Potato Conference which was held in Uganda. The next one will hold in 2028 here in Jos Plateau State.”

He raised concern that some high-end hotels in Nigeria do not use Plateau-grown potatoes but rely on import, saying: “They import from South Africa because you won’t blame them because of the quality of what we produce. You know, for purposes of international standards, you have the concept of traceability from farm preparation to harvest to storage and what have you before you can even think of export.

“But it will interest you to know that Mangu, which today is one of the areas that is being challenged security-wise, is one of the largest producers and is perhaps the biggest food market in Plateau State, where people come from West Africa and Northern Africa to Mangu markets.”

Putting the issue of insecurity in context, the governor said that the challenges of insecurity that they are battling with to a large extent is economic. He said: I have challenged the traditional narrative of farmers – herders crises. Since coming on board, I found that it’s nothing but trash.

“It’s a facade to continue with criminality, organized criminality, that actually what is happening is a deliberate attempt to make sure that people do not cultivate their farms. And if they don’t cultivate their farms, which is their main economic activity, invariably you’ll push them into poverty. And it is not a coincidence that the insecurity gets heightened at the onset of the farming season.”

The governor said that state has been battling security challenge on a daily basis. He said: “I can tell you, this is very organized criminality, that people try to claim that maybe cattle was rustled and all of that stuff.

“But, you know, even in law, you know that provocation has to be commensurate with retaliation. You know, you don’t go and deliberately wipe out a whole settlement, a whole village, a whole community, because three cattle were rustled. It doesn’t make sense.

“But, like I said earlier, our main focus is on building a Plateau economy that is resilient, and we believe that we can be able to build an economy here that runs into billions of dollars, if it is well organized. And agriculture becomes one of our main economic drivers. The other aspect of agriculture, which is livestock, this is the best place to raise livestock in the whole country There’s no question about it, because of the advantages of weather.

“I can tell you with all confidence, that the eggs produced here on the Plateau have the longest lifespan or shelf-life in the whole country, because of the weather. So, one of the things we are trying to leverage on is to provide a lead in the propagation of livestock, which again is a strategy to deal with the issue of farmers – herders crises.

Mutfwang also talked about plans to revolutionise dairy farming. He is proposing a shift from open grazing to structured models using high-yield Friesian cattle.

He said: “Open grazing is economically obsolete. With a structured model, even a family with two improved cows can earn sustainably. Nigeria still has a huge milk deficit, and Plateau is well-positioned to close that gap.

“The cows that are being moved around openly can give you a maximum of two litres of milk in a day, maximum. But the modern trend is to be able to deal with other species of cattle that give you a far better yield. And I want to say this: that under the last PDP administration, which was led by Governor Jang, he imported 250 Frisian cattle from South Africa.”