From Okwe Obi, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has launched over 2000 tractors, disc ploughs, disc harrows, ridgers and other agricultural machinery and equipment purchased from the Republic of Belarus.
In August 2024, the Federal Government had proposed a purchase of 9022 units of various agricultural machinery and their spare parts from the Republic of Belarus.
President Tinubu, who spoke at the event yesterday in Abuja, reiterated his administration’s commitment to investing in agriculture and boosting food production.
He specifically said he would make agriculture ‘sexy’ to simmer the biting hunger in the land, as part of his renewed hope agenda.
The president said it was necessary for the All Progressives Congress (APC), to blow its trumpet to let other party rivals know what the party is doing in the area of food security.
“We made a promise when we came in. We are fulfilling that promise. In a crisis, I demanded immediate and innovative solutions that are answered today.
“Agricultural productivity is synonymous with national stability and food security.
“The ability to nourish our population from the bedrock of a prosperous nation. Our ambition extends beyond mere self-sufficiency. We envision Nigeria as a global agricultural powerhouse, supplying quality produce to international markets while ensuring every citizen has access to affordable nutrition. That is why we took a bold decision to establish this renewed hope agricultural mechanisation programme. We are just beginning.
“Under this initiative, in addition to whatever they have at the sub-national level, as governors, whatever you have procured, we are also going to do more. While we are here, over 2,000 advanced tractors, 50 industrial grade land preparation booths, 12 fully equipped mobile workshops, and over 8,000 specialised farming implements are ready.
“This equipment, when deployed to empower mechanisation and service providers, will create job opportunities, make farmers easy and more sexy to our younger generation.
“You don’t have to use 18th century methods for a 21st century agricultural family. Our strategy encompasses year-round cultivation, drastically reducing our historical vulnerability to seasonal strategy. We have friends across the world.
“We have Belarus committed to a programme that will empower our youth, teach them how to do things, get them on the street, empower them in technology, review mechanisation and empower them in machine repairs and fabrication,” he said.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar kyari, observed that the unveiling of the tools is the single largest mechanisation drive ever undertaken in Nigeria.
While breaking down the equipment, he said: “2,000 high-quality tractors with trailers, ploughs, harrows, sprayers and planters; 10 state-of-the-art combined harvesters; 12 fully equipped mobile workshops; 50 bulldozers for agricultural land development and over 9,000 complementary implements and spare parts were purchased.”
According to him, the feat was made possible through the “outstanding partnership and technical expertise of AFTRADE DMCC, a global leader in agricultural technology and machinery trade.”
He explained that the mechanisation programme was designed by the present administration to bring over 550,000 hectares of farmland under cultivation, generate more than two million metric tonnes of staple food, create over 16,000 jobs and directly benefit more than 550,000 farming households across all the six geopolitical zones.