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B Chinyere Anyanwu, [email protected]
To help tackle the lingering food insufficiency nightmare, the Kogi State government said it has invested N7 billion on farm implements to aid farmers’ productivity in the current farming season.
The funds were invested in the acquisition of over 100 tractors which have been distributed to about 10,000 farmers for the cultivation of 7,324 hectares of farmland across the state.
The stgovernor, Usman Ododo, made the presentation to the farmers in different communities across the 21 local government areas of the state while officially flagging off this year’s wet season farming in the state.
While speaking at the flag-off ceremony in Geregu, Ajaokuta local government area of the state at the weekend, Ododo said that investment in agriculture is a critical step towards food security and poverty eradication in the state.
The governor stated that 75 per cent of the total farmland cleared for cultivation in this year’s farming season would be allocated to youth and women farmers.
He noted that over 90 per cent of the land area in the state is arable, promising to make Kogi a leading state in agricultural production and a major contributor to the development of Nigeria’s economy.
Ododo said, “Across the 21 local government areas of the state, we are opening farmlands and preparing more land for cultivation of crops like rice, maize, cassava, yam and other staple food crops and grains.
“We have also procured farm implements for full scale agricultural mechanisation in line with our agenda to ensure food security in the state. Our youths are beginning to embrace agriculture as a credible source of wealth creation and our women in agriculture are already on the field because of their belief in our commitment to transform the agriculture sector in the state.”
Ododo commended President Bola Tinubu for supporting the agricultural transformation initiatives in the country, assuring the state that his administration has keyed into the cardinal objectives of the Renewed Hope Agenda to ensure food security in all parts of the country.
