Agricultural production plays a crucial role in the success and growth of Niger State of Nigeria and the nation’s economy.

CROPS OFTEN CULTIVATED IN NIGER STATE ARE:

CROP	LOCATION /LGA	APEX PERIOD OF CULTIVATION	USES	REMARKS
Rice(low land)	Lapai, Agaie, Badeggi, Gbako, bida, lavun, Mokwa, Shiroro, Borgu, Wushishi,Agwara	June-December	Human consumption, livestock feeds and industrial uses	The crop could be planted in all the L.G.As on large scale basis
Rice(up land)	All over the state	May-December	Human consumption,livestock feeds and industrial uses.
Melon	Lavun,gbako, agaie,lapai, and mokwa as major areas of cultivation	April-December	Human consumption and vegetable oil	Grown twice a year
Sugar cane	Lavun, gbako, mokwa & mokwa as major areas of cultivation.	November-December	Human consumption and industrial uses
Cassava	All over the state with mokwa, lapai,bida,gbako and wushishi as major producing areas	Aug-december	Human consumption, animal feeds and industrial uses
Sorghum/guinea corn	All over the state with mashegu,mariga & magamaLGAs being major areas of production	May January	Human consumption and indusrial uses.
Ground nut	All over the state with Rijau & Magama LGAs being major areas of production.	May-December	Vegetable oil,livestock feed human consumption	The crop can be cultivated twice a year
Millet	All over the state with Mashegu and Magama LGAs being major areas of production	April – December	Human Consumption
Sheanut	All over the state	June- August	Oil for human consumption & industrial uses
Yam	All over the state with Gurara, Suleja, Paikoro, Shiroro and Bosso LGAs being major areas of production.	March – December	Human consumption
Soya bean	Suleja, mokwa and Lapai	July- October	Industrial uses for production of milk for human consumption and livestock feed.
Cotton	Rafi, Mariga, Magama, Borgu, Rijua, Agwara and part of Lavun & Lapai LGAs	June – December	Textile, Vegetable and livestock feeds.
Beans	All over the state	June – December	Human consumption

Niger is a State located in central Nigeria and its capital city is Minna.

Other top cities in Niger State include Bida, Suleja and Kontagora. 

The State has an expansive land area and it’s close to the nation’s capital, Abuja.

Creation: It was created out of the defunct North Western state on 3rd February, 1976.

Location: Situated in the North central geo-political zone.

Administrative areas: The State comprises 25 Local Government Areas grouped into 3 administrative zones: A, B, C with each zone having 8, 9 and 8 Local Government Areas (LGAs) respectively.

Niger State has 25 Local Government Areas, namely:

1. Agaie
2. Agwara
3. Bida
4. Borgu
5. Bosso
6. Chanchaga
7. Edati
8. Gbako
9. Gurara
10. Katcha
11. Kontagora
12. Lapai
13. Lavun
14. Magama
15. Mariga
16. Mashegu
17. Mokwa
18. Munya
19. Paikoro
20. Rafi
21. Rijau
22. Shiroro
23. Suleja
24. Tafa
25. Wushishi

The Local Government Areas in Niger State and their headquarters are:

SN	LGA	HEADQUARTERS
01	Agaie	Agaie
02	Agwara	Agwara
03	Bida	Bida
04	Borgu	New Bussa
05	Bosso	Maikunkele
06	Edati	Enagi
07	Gurara	Gawu Babangida
08	Gbako	Lemu
09	Katcha	Katcha
10	Kontagora	Kontagora
11	Lapai	Lapai
12	Lavun	Kutigi
13	Mariga	Bangi
14	Mokwa	Mokwa
15	Magama	Nasko
16	Mashegu	Mashegu
17	Munya	Sarkin Pawa
18	Paikoro	Paiko
19	Rafi	Kagara
20	Rijau	Rijau
21	Shiroro	Kuta
22	Suleja	Suleja
23	Tafa	Sabon-Wuse
24	Wushishi	Wushishi
25	Minna	Minna

Boundaries: Niger State shares its borders with republic of Benin (West), Zamfara State (North), Kebbi (North-West), Kogi (South), Kwara (South West), Kaduna (North-East) and the FCT (South-East).

Land area, the largest among Nigerian states: Niger State is one of the largest states in Nigeria covering about 86,000km2 (or about 8.6million hectares) representing about 9.3% of the total land area of the country.

Major rivers: Niger State’s major rivers are: Niger, Kaduna, Gbako, Eko, Gurara, Ebba, Ega, Mariga and their tributaries.

Fishes: The common fishes found in these rivers are: Nile Perch (Lates) Trunck fish, Cat fish, Osteoglosid, Tilapia, Synodontis, Tiger fish, Moon fish, Mormyrid and Electric fish. By the 2006 census, the State’s population is 3,950,249 comprising 2,032,725 males and 1,917,524 females.

Ethnic groups: The easily identifiable major ethnic groups are Nupes, Hausa, Gbagyi, Kadara, Koro, Bassa, Kamuku, Ingwai, Fangu, Kambari, Dukkawa, Fulani, Abewa, Bisan, Gungawa, Bauchi, Bariba, Urah, Boko, Bokobaro, Bauchnu, Achifawa, Dakarkari, Kakanda, Ganagana, and Dibo and numerous non native tribes.

Economic activities: The major economic activity is agriculture: farming, fishing, and cattle rearing.

The other economic activities (though limited in scale) include banking, trading, transportation, local arts and crafts with Bida, the heart land of the Nupes, famous for its brass work. These activities constitute the means of livelihood of the people of Niger State in addition to public service.

Reference: nigerstate.gov.ng/about-niger