The federal government yesterday announced its intention to roll out a comprehensive mechanisation plan to enhance the productivity of the agricultural sector.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari said that the plan is expected to be launched soon in line with President Bola Tinubu’s administration agenda for food security.
The plan would also address the challenges of mechanisation in Nigeria as the country remains at the lowest level of mechanisation in sub-Saharan Africa and According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Nigeria only has 0.27 tractors per 1,000 hectares of cropland, compared to 4.7 obtained in South Africa and 2.7 in Ghana.
The minister who spoke at the close of the implementation review and preparatory meeting for the second phase of the 2023-2024 dry-season farming in Abuja, expressed confidence in the President’s willingness to provide all the support for the mechanisation programme.
He said that the federal government remains committed to chart a course forward in ensuring robust and sustainable production of staple food commodities across board.
“Right now our number one tool is hoe and Mr. President is going to give us all the support for mechanisation and we will soon roll out the mechanisation programme”, Kyari said.
Kyari who was in company of the minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, including the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sabi Abdullahi, emphasised that stakeholders work with the state governments to produce a genuine farmers’s register for smooth implementation of the subsidised forthcoming dry-season farming which targeted the cultivation of 150,000 hectares of rice, 30,000 of maize and 20,000 for cassava.
According to the minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, the ongoing dry-season farming demonstrated President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to deliver his promise for a transformed agricultural sector.
Bagudu said, “We are here to deliver on a promise made by President Bola Tinubu during his campaign and to interact with agro stakeholders and to deliver on that commitment, so today for us is a day of joy that we have yet again demonstrated that the President is a promise keeper”.
In his remarks, the coordinating minister of the Economy, Wale Edun said that the coming together of a diverse ecosystem of stakeholders to discuss and implement agricultural growth schemes has set the stage for a promising dry season harvest.
Edun expressed confidence that the concerted efforts would result in a successful dry season harvest, that would led to increased food supply and subsequently lower food prices, poverty alleviation, create more jobs and ensure overall economic stability.
“We’re here to witness what our colleagues, the ministers for agriculture, have put together. This is the basis for huge success in agriculture and, consequently, the ease of inflationary trends,” Edun said.
