Plateau State has taken a decisive step toward reshaping its agricultural economy, with Governor Caleb Mutfwang inaugurating a Potato Value Chain Project, a new Tissue Culture Centre and a range of farming equipment in Mangu, part of an effort officials describe as a new era for potato production aimed at making Plateau a global reference point for high quality processed potato products.
Mutfwang said the project’s revival marks a dramatic turnaround from what he inherited on taking office, describing the earlier state of the initiative, first launched in 2017, as a disaster nearly abandoned before his administration intervened, and framing today’s progress as a story of recovery, of putting round pegs in round holes. He said Plateau’s ambitions now extend well beyond harvesting and selling raw tubers into processing chips, flakes and other derivatives, backed by stronger transportation and market systems, declaring that major Nigerian hotels will no longer need to rely on imported potatoes, this is the beginning of the end of that story. He also announced plans to feed schoolchildren locally processed potatoes as part of a revamped school feeding programme, describing the initiative as a foundation for prosperity and arguing that genuine legacy projects are measured by improved welfare and purchasing power for citizens, not by physical structures alone. He urged farmers to adopt modern practices, including tractors, planters and improved seed varieties, arguing that the secret of agriculture is seed and that the state will no longer tolerate outdated methods that produce disease ridden harvests and losses, praising communities that donated land for the project as making a genuine sacrifice for the collective good.
Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources Samson Bugama called the inauguration the dawn of a plateau potato revolution, describing the Tissue Culture Lab as the nucleus for developing clean, disease free seed varieties and preserving indigenous strains, complemented by a training centre and a processing plant designed to add value at every stage of production, structured to make potato a flagship crop for Plateau positioned competitively on the global stage. Project Coordinator Jerry Gushop, visibly emotional, called himself the happiest person at the event and paid tribute to Mutfwang for entrusting him with the project, saying the team accomplished in one year what had eluded the previous eight, calling the work not just a job but a calling. He listed the project’s achievements: a modern tissue culture laboratory for clean seed production, 118.4 kilometres of new rural roads and culverts, nine community markets and nine diffuse light stores, 17 spring captures, 22 water harvesting structures, 500 irrigation systems, three processing plants across Mangu, Bokkos and Barkin Ladi, and training for hundreds of farmers on preservation, seed selection, processing and packaging, interventions he said have changed lives, empowered mothers, inspired youth and restored confidence in government. As the project moves into its next phase, Mutfwang expressed optimism that Plateau’s potato story would be fully transformed within three to five years, warning that if we don’t produce what we need, we will continue to be a nation of beggars, and reaffirming his administration’s commitment to shifting Nigeria from consumption toward production.
