Agriculture

By Ali Rabiu

As part of measures to improve the agricultural sector and ensure food security in Nigeria, the federal government is set to reposition the National Centre for Agriculture Mechanisation, NCAM.

The Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Aliyu Abdullahi, stated this during his working visit to NCAM in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

He said the centre has the mandate for certification and mechanisation of machinery, equipment and devices to ensure the actualisation of the national food security agenda.

Senator Abdullahi said the federal government has discovered that a lot of farmers are being ripped off by service providers who bring in machinery with false claims.

He explained that the present administration’s focus is to reposition the centre to enable it to check every machinery and equipment coming into the country to ensure that it serves the purpose it was meant for.

The minister noted that a bill was already in the pipeline to review agricultural laws in the country.

Earlier in his address, the Executive Director, National Centre for Agriculture Mechanisation, NCAM, Engineer Abdulgafar Kamal, called for the strengthening of the centre by providing equipment testing facilities and modern machine tools.

Engineer Kamal also appealed for the establishment of outstations in the agroecological zones of the country to serve as outreach centres.

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Agriculture

The Federal Government through the Ministry of Agriculture has distributed farm inputs to farmers in Oyo State.

This is part of efforts to ensure that Nigeria does not experience food shortages as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The event was held at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, MOOR Plantation, Apata, Ibadan.

Distributing the farm inputs, which included seeds of kenaf, yam and cocoa seedlings,

Minister of State for Agriculture, Alhaji Mustapha Shehuri, said provision of the seedlings was part of Federal Government’s interventions to reduce the effect of Covid-19 pandemic on agricultural production in Nigeria and avert food scarcity in 2021 and beyond.

The minister lauded President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration’s proactive steps in prioritizing food security in the face of dwindling oil revenue and limited opportunity to import food.

Alhaji Shehuri, while noting that Oyo State was the third state to get the inputs after Kano and Kaduna states, urged the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the farm inputs.

The minister also called on stakeholders to provide similar support to farmers to defeat the Coronavirus pandemic and become self-sufficient.

Oyo State Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde in a message through the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Mrs Olubanwo Adeosun explained that the present administration was reinvigorating the agricultural sector to make it appealing to experienced and potential farmers.

In a remark, National President, Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria, Mr Adeola Adegoke, State Chairman, Agricultural Development Farmers Association, Alhaji Saliu Imam and Chairman, All State Farmers Association, Oyo State, Engineer John Olateru while appreciating the Federal Government’s gesture, urged the authorities to look deeply into infrastructure development, particularly roads for the overall development of the sector.

Jeffrey Ahonmisi