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Cross River State is going ahead with its Agro- Industrialisation drive in the midst of the outbreak of COVID-19, says Governor Ben Ayade.
The governor, who stated this in Calabar, explained that his administration was determined to make the state self-sufficient in food production, adding that, “we are not resting on our oars in our agro-industrialisation drive because of the likelihood of global food crisis after COVID-19.”
Speaking while deploying the newly acquired tractors and others farming equipment to the field, Ayade said: “In the face of the lockdown, isolating Cross River State from the infiltration of coronavirus into the state, we are aware that we have properly secured our external borders while allowing the economy to continue to run. It is against that background that I have come here to mobilise all our equipment to move to the field.”
Ayade said the equipment were being moved to some of the farms in the Northern Senatorial district of the state.
“The idea is that Cross River is already looking at the post COVID-19 era because we don’t want to to be caught up in vortex of hunger and food scarcity. Now that oil price has come to zero and even below the cost price, it is obvious Nigeria will have to move to agro-dollar.
Nigeria should be migrating from petro dollar to agro dollar and Cross River will be leading that process. For the massive land deforestation like in Akamkpa where there is a brand new massive rice farm we are doing the clearing work, definitely the equipments will be needed there,” he said.
