Akwa Ibom Opts For Mechanised Agric To End Food Crisis

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, has said his administration is taking practical steps to address the challenges of hunger and starvation bedevilling the population.

Towards this end, the administration has launched a full-scale mechanised farming programme to enhance agricultural production, with the establishment of Agric Equipment Leasing Company (AELC), which the Governor assured would be commissioned soon.

Speaking in an interview with Correspondents shortly after inspecting the progress of work at the company located at Ekpri Nsukara in Uyo, Governor Eno praised the contractor for the work done so far at the site.

“There is a lot of improvement on the work done here to get the company kick-started in earnest. The contractor, in fact, has given her word that the project will soon be inaugurated, and I hold her to that,” he noted.

He explained that the essence of the project was to motivate farmers to adopt large-scale farming to improve productivity, earnings, and food sufficiency in the State.

“The farming season is here again, and we are putting everything in place for this project to function optimally. There are over 25 tractors with tracking devices and two low beds in readiness for the agriculture programme.

“What we intend to do here is to lease these equipment to our farmers across the State at subsidized rates so that they can make use of them for improved farming productivity in the State. These farming equipment range from ploughs, harvesters, to lots of others that will help them improve,” he stressed.

The Governor explained that his focus was to mechanise farming methods in the State to achieve large-scale benefits in crop production and higher profits for farmers.

Speaking on the government’s tree-crop revolution programme, Governor Eno assured that it would kick off immediately the rainy season sets in, explaining that it thrives well during the rainy season.

“The nursery of the palm tree crop seedlings has been put in place; the necessary enumeration of farmers has been done throughout the State, and in the next two weeks, the seedlings will be distributed to farmers for appropriate planting across the State”.

The Governor, therefore, enjoined farmers to embrace the various agricultural programmes put up by the government for the attainment of meaningful large-scale farming output and growth of individuals in particular and the State in general.