The Ondo State Government has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria to put into consideration geographical location of States in the country while giving incentives to farmers.
The advice was given by Ondo State Governor,Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, while playing host to officials of Central Bank of Nigeria at his office in Akure, the Ondo state capital.
Governor Akeredolu who was represented by his Deputy, Honourable Agboola Ajayi, said this became imperative as the Central Bank earmarked 1.5 billion naira for youths in the state in a programme, tagged ‘Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme’ (AADA)
In a statement made available to THE PRECISION by the press officer, deputy governor’s office, Sola Omoboyowa, Arakunrin Akeredolu said geographical terrain should be considered a priority while rolling out programmes on agriculture, noting that what farmers would spend preparing land for farmering varies from zone to zone because of different terrains and weather
He therefore urged CBN to look critically at the issue in their agricultural initiative promising that the state government would support the programme as Ondo state is determined to revamp its economy base through Agriculture.
The Governor commended Central Bank of Nigeria for various agricultural initiatives to boost the economy of the country and charged them to ensure that people at the grassroots benefited from the scheme.
Speaking earlier, leader of the delegation,Hajia Amina Umar said they were in the state to partner government on how to empower 10,000 Youth through Agriculture,adding that the youth between age 18 and 35 will benefit from the scheme.
She stressed that the scheme was designed to create jobs for unemployed Youths through mechanised farming.
Hajia Umar noted that, under the programme, the state government would provide about 100 hectares of land
In the same vein, Governor Akeredolu through his deputy, Hon Agboola Ajayi hosted members of Ondo State Agricultural Commodities Association in his office.
Arakunrin Akeredolu informed the farmers that the state government is partnering CBN to develop the agricultural sector as the bank earmarked over 1billion naira to empower 10,000 youth in the state.
The Governor emphasised that agriculture remains one of his administration cardinal programme to diversify the economy of the state.
He told the farmers that machinery has been put in place for farmers in the state to produce in surplus,as part of measures to curb importation of food into the state.
The Governor hinted that the state would soon become rice producing state as the government was ready to embark on aggressive rice cultivation.
In his address, leader of the association in the state Mr. Gbenga Akinola said Agriculture is lucrative and should be seen in the light of a value chain with players linked to one another to achieve excellent results.” We have people involved in seed production, agro chemical production,land preparation, cultivation and processing and packaging. These are examples of players along the agriculture value chain”, he said.
He solicited the support of the state government by creating an enabling environment for farmers in the state to thrive and urged the government to empower them as a way of boosting its revenue base.
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