The Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, and the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, have urged Nigerians to return agriculture to its pride of place in the nation’s economy in order to ensure food security, reduce importation, curb unemployment and accelerate the development of the country.
They made the appeal in their separate addresses at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Abeokuta during the kick-off of the distribution of cheques under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme and Official Roll-Out of the Growth Enhancement Support.
The CACS is a partnership between the state government and the Central Bank of Nigeria to boost food production in Ogun State while GES is a collaboration between Ogun State and the Federal Government designed to lift resource-poor farmers out of subsistence to self-sufficiency.
Amosun specifically enjoined youths of the state to engage in agriculture in order to replace the ageing farming population.
He explained that his administration had demonstrated its commitment to transform the agriculture sector through provision of access to the CACS and GES, which ensures that real farmers, rather than exploiters, enjoy access to farming inputs at highly subsidized rates; signing of relevant MoU under Agricultural Transformation Agenda; and agreement for the provision of 25% which would be complemented by 25 per cent from the Federal Government in order to bring the total support for subsidized fertilizers to 50 per cent for the small-holder farmers in Ogun State.
He urged beneficiaries to utilise the supports strictly for the expansion of their enterprises and avoid any attempt to engage in loan diversion or agro-input trafficking of any sort.
The governor said the condition for benefiting from GES was being in the National Farmers’ Database, which qualifies such registered farmers to purchase two bags of fertilizer at 50 per cent of the prevailing market prices with free seedlings.
He implored other farmers to get themselves listed in the National Farmers’ Database so that they could be part of the scheme in the next planting season.
Adesina commended the administration of Amosun for its massive investment in agriculture, promising that the Federal Government would support the state to restore the glory of sector.
He said the Federal Government, in particular, would support Ogun State in improving cassava production and processing.
“The FG would, among others, support Ogun with three large-scale cassava processing machines that can process 72 metric tonnes of cassava per year, one large-scale integrated rice mill that will process 90 metric tonnes per year and provide N76 million counterpart fund on subsidising inputs for cocoa farmers this year,” he disclosed.
The minister restated that his mission was to reduce drastically food importation in Nigeria by reviving the agriculture sector.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Engr. Ayo Olubori, said the disbursement of the N1 billion facility would be done in phases to qualified beneficiaries.
He said Ogun was one of the first 14 beneficiary states of the GES pilot scheme.
Other highlights of the ceremony included the demonstration of e-distribution of fertilisers to farmers under the GES scheme, which eliminates middle-men, goodwill messages from the farmers’ associations in the state, United Bank for Africa, National Agricultural Insurance Corporation, a parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and a cultural display urging all Nigerians to return to farming.