Mechanised farming: FG trains 30 youths on machinery operation

NO fewer than 30 young farmers from five states are being trained by the Federal Government on machinery operations and maintenance.

Dr Olugbenga Arokoyo, a Rural Institution Development Specialist at the National Fadama Coordination office in Abuja, said on Thursday in Akure that the training became necessary because of the dearth of good operators and mechanics to handle farm equipment.

Six beneficiaries from Jigawa, Ebonyi, Ondo, Plateau and Osun are involved in the training programme in Akure.

Arokoyo said that Fadama projects must involve mechanisation because of its effective use in other parts of the world.

” It is said that a tractor in Nigeria has average three-year lifespan whereas the same tractor can last for 30 years in an ideal situation,’’ he said.

He added that all the fundamentals of tractor maintenance would be taught considering that the Federal Government had signed a MoU with a US company, John Deere, to make tractors available.

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“This company will also operate a tractor hiring system so that Nigerian farmers and the private sector can collaborate with each other for economic benefits,” he said.

According to him, the training will tackle challenges capable of truncating the goals of the Federal Government in solving the problem of food security and job creation through mechanised agriculture.

He added that this would encourage youths, especially young graduates, to embrace farming.

Mr Akin Olotu, the Senior Special Assistant( SSA) on Agriculture and Agric Business to the Ondo State Governor, decried the low durability of tractors due to poor handling, unavailability of spare parts and lack of effective management.

“The lifespan of tractors is extremely low because of mal-handling and poor management.

“We just have to change because these tractors are our assets and it is incumbent on us to use the tractors very well,” he said.

The SSA also noted that the state government had paid its counterpart fund for Fadama programme, adding that the state would soon complete three mechanised Fadama centres in the three senatorial districts of the state.