Kano State has emerged the overall winner at the just concluded 2011 National Agricultural Show, held in Tudun Wada, Nassarawa State.The Agricultural exhibition which had over 10,000 exhibitors, drawn from the 36 States of the federation saw Kano State clinching the first position at the exhibition.After a critical and technical assessment of the varieties of agricultural products exhibited on the occasion, Kano State was unianimously picked by all judges drawn from renowned Universities of Agriculture as the overall Best Exhibitor at the 2011 National Agricultural Show. and as the first in the States category.Speaking on the feat, the State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr Baraka Sani, who led the State's contingent to the four-day Agric Show, organized by the National Secretariat of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) said he had a herculean task coordinating activities, which at the close of the day paid off, as the State emerged first Overall Best Exhibitor.In an interview with Nigerian Compass, Alhaji Yahaya Bala, Chairman of the Organizing Planning Committee on how the State was able to achieved the feat, confidently told our correspondent that Kano State Government deserved the overall best position, noting that Kano is basically an agrarian state and very vast in agriculture, which it is sustaining to date.'Agric Show is not something new to Kano , as it has for quite some time now been participating such fairs, as well as been involved in organizing Agric Shows in Kano . We are conversant with all the technicalities in Agric Exhibition, what to take to the exhibition and what we displayed there, so as to clinch the first position.'According to him, the State within the last four years has been emerging victorious in Agric exhibitions, explaining that the state has at various times clinched the first, second and first positions respectively, while participating in such exhibitions.Going back memory lane, Bala recalled that when State participated in an Agric Show for the first time in 1988, it clinched the first position and has since then sustained the tempo. He recalled that in 2008, the State clinched the second position, in 2009, it emerged the first position, and same in 2010 and 2011.During the four-day exhibition, he disclosed that the State exhibited value added and value change seedlings, pointing out that all the input are agric based materials, prominent of which include the technical aspect of production, right from the raw material stage (seedling) to the binding stage for export.'If it is leather(hides and skin), right from the raw stage to tannery and the finishing. Most of the raw materials exhibited at the Show were right from raw material stage to the finishing, ranging from millet, maize, guinea corn, groundnut.'Commenting on the criteria used to assess the performance of participants, Bala explained that during such an exhibition, there are individual experts in attendance, whose role is to give a brief history of products on display, pointing out that there are an experts for the various products exhibited, ranging from maize, millet, guinea corn, groundnut and other products.'We expected to emerge victorious, as no state exhibited the type of products Kano displayed in its unique pavilion, which has numerous access route, unlike other's which has only one entrance, like a room.'While the exhibition lasted, Bala acknowledged that not less than 10,000 of the 20,000 visitors that graced the Agric Show stormed Kano State pavilion, mainly due to the distinct products exhibited there.He revealed that the Judges, who were drawn from the Ahmadu Bello University , Zaria , University of Ibadan , International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and other universities, were unanimous in their decision in naming Kano State as the first overall Best Exhibitor, having satisfied all the stringent conditions.In a separate interview with a member of the Organizing and Planning Committee, Alhaji Sule Sale, he told our correspondent that during the Agric Show, held in Nassarawa from November 12 to November 15, 2011, with the theme: ' Towards a Sustainable Agricultural Transformation', the State government put up an impressive performance, which was responsible for its resounding success during the exhibition, involving participants from the 36 states of the federation.While explaining that the exhibition of such magnitude was a national event, Sale, argued that as far as the judgment was concerned, he believed that the team constituted by the National Foundation of Agriculture were up to the task because they are professionals, drawn from several Agric-related Institutes, most especially like the Leather Research Institute, the International Institute Tropical Agriculture (IITA), as well as from the University community.To this extent, Sale asserted that the unanimous decision by the Judges to adjudge Kano State as the first overall Best Exhibitor among the 36 States that participated in the exhibition is in order, having scaled all the Judges technical hurdles.
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