The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development says it has provided 6,975 different agro-chemicals and 48,334 pieces of agricultural equipment for sale to farmers in Ondo State.
Funke Omagbemi, the state Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Akure.
Omagbemi said 4,048 different agro-chemicals and 125 pieces of equipment were made available for sales in July.
She also said 2,927 different agrochemicals and 48,209 pieces of equipment were presented for sale to farmers in September.
She said: “In the first batch, the state received 24 gallons of Super Grow, 692 sachets of Ultimax Plus, 1,406 litres of Champ D, 397 packs of Aflasafe (Cereal) and 169 litres of Cypermetrin.
“Besides, 45 litres of Grammazone, 573 litres of Paraquat, 147 litres of Pendimentaline, 204 of Retrazine and 392 litres of Uproot were received.”
Omagbemi also said in respect of agricultural equipment, the state received 29 3HP water pumps, six 2HP water pumps, 11 double-action solo pumps, two jab planters, 74 knapsack sprayers and three multipurpose threshers.
She said that under the second batch, the state received 16 gallons of Super Grow, 461 litres of Ultimax Plus, 936 sachets of Champ D, 265 kg of Aflasafe and 113 litres of Cypermetrin.
Also, 115 litres of Cranston Spectrum, 382 litres of Paraquat, 98 litres of Pendimentaline, 136 litres of Retrazine, 261 litres of Uproot, 74 litres of Round Up and 70 kg of Amine Salt were received.
Omagbemi said: “In terms of equipment, the state received 20 3HP water pumps, four 2HP water pumps, 11,765 cocoa polythene bags and seven double-action solo pumps.
“Others include 36,250 oil palm polythene bags, one jab planter, 160 knapsack sprayers and two multipurpose threshers.”
Omagbemi said the items were sold to farmers across the state at highly subsidised prices.
She said: “We tried as much as possible to make sure that those items were sold to real farmers and not to those who wanted to resell them.”
The state director said if the state government could support the Federal Government’s efforts, the cost of agricultural production in the state would go down, while food prices would consequently be reduced.
“The Federal Government is not only encouraging farmers go into production, it is also providing inputs with highly subsidised prices for them so as to enable them to make more profit,” she said.
Omagbemi, therefore, called on farmers in the state to key into Federal Government’s agricultural schemes so as to enable them to benefit maximally from government support.
Besides, Omagbemi said the ministry had trained 12 unemployed graduates in fish farming.
“Each of them received 500 species of juvenile fish, six bags of feeds, farm booth, farm overall, weight scale, tank and N10,000 financial support,” she added.
NAN.