Kogi procures 25 tractors, rehabilitates bulldozers

Kogi State Government says it has taken delivery of 25 units of tractors as first batch of the equipment it procured as part of measures to boost mechanized farming.

Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Kehinde Oloruntoba, disclosed this at the monthly meeting of the Core Delivery Team (CDT) of the State Partnership for Agriculture (SPA) in Lokoja.

Oloruntoba who was represented at the meeting by Mr David Apeh, Special Adviser to the State Governor on Agriculture, said the tractors, of which more was being expected, would be distributed to various locations to aid farmers.

“As we all know, we cannot rely on hoe and cutlass to operate large farms and go into agribusiness. If we want large farms, we don’t expect our farmers to use hoes and cutlasses that is why we are placing emphasis on equipment.

“We also have a programme of land clearing for farmers. Land clearing is a serious problem in the state and all over the country so, government must also place emphasis on that if we must produce massively,” he added.

The commissioner also revealed that when the administration came on board, it released funds for the rehabilitation of broken down bulldozers and other equipment in the ministry, adding that five of them were rehabilitated.

According to Oloruntoba, Kogi is among states to benefit from a World Bank/Federal Government 200 million US dollars grant to boost production of crops in which it has comparative advantage.

“The initial release is going to be 10 million US dollars and the state government has already acquired an office and appointed a coordinator for the programme. The governor is going to personally monitor it,” the special assistant said.

He said the emphasis would be in the production of rice, cassava and cashew.