Maize farmers laud FG for increasing agric budget for 2017

The Maize Growers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria, on Friday applauded the Federal Government for increasing the appropriation for agriculture for the 2017 fiscal year.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the appropriation for agriculture increased from N75.8 billion in 2016 to N92 billion in the proposed 2017 budget.
The National President of the association, Dr Edwin Uche, said in an interview with NAN in Abujaon Friday that the increase was a step in the right direction.
He said that the increased budget for the sector was the only way to build food sustainability, create more jobs, and boost the economy of the country.
Uche said: “The generosity and the genuine intention of the Federal Government is the best way to go in agriculture in Nigeria by scaling up the funding for agriculture.
“It will help boost our GDP. It will also assist in providing sufficient food to attract foreign exchange.
“It will help build food sustainability in Nigeria, it will create more jobs considering the fact that the our economy is going through a very difficult situation where our major source of revenue, the oil and gas is no more providing the kind of support we need to drive our economy.
“Agriculture is the best bet for our development today so the investment is a step in the right direction.’’
The national president suggested that the monies be used to support farmers to grow cash crops that would generate foreign exchange for the country.
He listed some of the cash crops to be supported to include rice, millet, cocoa, oil palm, maize, and cassava.
According to him, these crops have market value, industrial demand, can create jobs, and have huge acceptability in the international market.
He said: “These are commodities that can attract a lot of foreign exchange, put food on our table, and create jobs.
“And they are in high demand in the international markets.
“If our government can invest more on such crops, I can assure you that the profitability will help to boost our economy.”
Uche, also the Coordinator of CBN’s Anchor Borrowers Programme in Imo State, appealed to the Federal Government to invest on agricultural technology to improve yield.
Uche said: “We must look at the issue of technology; government must invest in machinery, technology, that is the only way that agriculture will thrive.
“I have discovered that the maize association in America grows as much as 15 tonnes of maize per hectare.
“But here in Nigeria, we are still struggling with 3 to 5 tonnes per hectare.
“The differences between where they are and where we are are technology, capacity, and information.
“This is what scales up their production.
“So these are key areas that our government should look at to ensure we have massive production that can support the economy.’’
NAN reports that President Muhammadu Buhari, had on December 14, presented the 2017 budget of N7.298 trillion which is a nominal 20.4 per cent increase over 2016 estimates of N6.07 trillion
to the National Assembly.