‘Why Israelis Are Training 1,000 Cross River Farmers’

In furtherance of his desire to make Cross River the leading rice producing state in the country, the state Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, has signed a pact with the government of Israel to train 1000 rice farmers on modern farming techniques.

Speaking at an orientation exercise for the farmers at the Ayade Industrial Park, Calabar, Ayade stated that the training was to create wealth for farmers through capacity building and access to modern farming techniques and equipment.

According to him, “Today’s exercise is to announce to the world that Cross River is fully prepared to become number one rice producer in Nigeria with the training and equipping of over 1000 farmers with 21st century farming skills in the first phase of the training progamme.”

Ayade disclosed that the decision to bring Israeli experts to handle the training is to expose farmers in the state to modern farming methods and machines.

“I brought experts from Israel to train us and allow us to have the full benefit of our rice factory that we have set up here for maximal benefits to the citizenry.”

He said the training programme is also part of his administration’s deliberate programme to industrialise the state with a view to decoupling it from over dependence on federal allocations.

“By the time we are done training the 12, 000 rice farmers so far identified, Cross River will become number one and self sufficient in rice production in Nigeria,” he assured.