Stakeholders Laud Edo Agric- Based COVID- 19 Stimulus
• As Farm Settlements Get Govt Support
SMALLHOLDER farmers and other stakeholders in the agriculture sector in Edo State have commended the state’s sustained investment in the sector, to ensure food sufficiency, create jobs and improve livelihoods, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The commendation came on the heels of the onset of planting of crops in government- backed farm settlements across the state.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security Programme, Prince Joe Okojie, said with support from the government’s agriprenuer programme, farmers in the settlements have been supported with machinery and other materials for tilling, harrowing and ploughing for the 2020 farming season.
According to him: “The state government will not relent in supporting the farmers to achieve a bumper harvest. We are excited that the rice seeds planted in Warrake and Illushi farms have sprouted. We are confident that the yield will be rich as we are focusing on sustaining a robust agriculture- based economy during and in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.” He said the government’s ongoing investments in the sector are designed to spur agribusiness, agro- processing and other agro- allied sectors in the state, noting, “We will continue to assist farmers in government’s backed farms across the state in managing the farming activities, as we offer agronomic support to the farmers.”
A farmer in Warrake rice farm, Owan East Local Government Area, Suleman Momoh, said with the support, farmers are ready to cash- in in the agriculturebased post COVID- 19 economy.
He said with the mechanised farming system put in place by the state, farming has become attractive, as new job opportunities have been created for youths. Another farmer in Illushi rice farm, Monday Nana, said “With the use of mechanised farm equipment under the Edo State Agripreneur programme, farming is now less tedious for us farmers in the state. Those of us who were into subsistence farming in the past have been encouraged to scale up to commercial farming.