The Ogun State House of Assembly has said that the Federal Government Anchor Borrowers Programme will encourage more farmers participation in agriculture business and boost food security in the country.
This was the position of members of the Ogun Assembly Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, during the on-the-spot assessment of plantations at Otete in Yewa North Local Government Area of the state
The chairman of the committee, Hon. Sylvester Abiodun represented by his vice, Hon. Yusuf Adejojo promised that the Assembly would continue to legislate towards sustaining the intervention programmes.
Abiodun recalled that the Assembly had engaged the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Adeola Odedina, on the benefits of the scheme, while expressing optimism that the programme would increase value addition, hence the need to put in place legislative framework towards providing consumable agricultural produce and raw materials to further position the state as a leading entity in food production among the comity of States.
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Odedina in his remarks said the Prince Dapo Abiodun led- administration expected optimum performance from the beneficiaries, thus, organised supplementary training for all the 3, 500 farmers, who were selected through a transparent and all-inclusive system across the 20 Local Government Areas.
Assuring of supervision of the farmland, Odedina disclosed that 74 hectares of land were allotted to the 127 cassava farmers in various locations including Otete, Idagba, Igbogila, Sanwonjo and Imasayi, all in Yewa North, with a projection of 40 tons per hectares as against the 25 tons expected from each beneficiary.
He noted that another Federal Government funded programme was underway to serve as a rewarding model for successful farmers, who are able to meet up with the expectations of the on-going programme.
In their respective remarks, the State Chairman, Nigeria Cassava Growers Association, Akinbode Adeneye, beneficiaries of the scheme, Kunle Fashola and Falana Adijat, lauded the application and selection processes for the programmes, saying it was an attestation of the transparency and inclusive policy of the present administration, as beneficiaries were chosen across religion and ethnic backgrounds.