Ogun partners IFAD on cultivation of 8,000 hectares of rice, cassava

Mrs Adepeju Adebajo, the state’s  Commissioner for Agriculture,  said this in Abeokuta at a one-day sensitisation workshop for representatives of farmers from the three senatorial districts of the state.

Adebajo,  who was represented by the Ogun Coordinator of  IFAD, Samuel Adeogun,  said that cassava would get 6,000 hectares of farmland while  rice would take up  2,000 hectares  to ensure food security.

“This is part of the programme complementing the efforts  of the state to ensure that our farming activities are mechanised in the state.

“We are looking at over 6,000 hectares of cassava and 2,000 hectares of rice in 2017, but for us to deliver, we need all hands to be on deck when it comes with farm mechanisation.

“Today, we have the Tractor Owners and Hiring Facilities Association of Nigeria to share their experience with us when it comes to farm mechanisation service delivery.

“We have called on you, our stakeholders,  to look at all efforts to ensure that we are able to deliver on what we have to do on mechanisation,” she said.

The commissioner said the essence of the programme was to ensure that farms were adequately mechanised.

She added that Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) objective was to increase incomes of small holder farmers as well as their productivity to plant in the state.

Some of the farmers present at the occasion appealed to the state government to fast-track efforts in the mechanisation efforts  before the commencement of the planting season.

Mr Sunday Oladipupo, the Chairman of Erekuwajo Cassava Growers Association of Nigeria, Owode,  commended the government  over  the development.

“We have been receiving support from both the federal and the state levels.

“The mechanised farming has helped us a lot; we have been practising it since last year which helped us.

“For last year, we were able to cultivate almost 37 hectares but this year, we are preparing for 50 hectares because we are going to use mechanised farming.

“The most important thing is that government should assist us by coming to the aid of the farmers in time because by March, planting will begin.

“We want the tractors to come in fast; we need the availability of tractors  before we will be able to achieve what we need,” he said.

Oladipupo, however, lamented the hike in the price of the tractors being hired for work, saying “we pay N5,000 for an hectare including the fuel that is N5,000 for an hectare of land.

“If government can come in, it will help farmers a lot because we don’t get the tractors direct from government.

”We get them from private owners who charge exorbitant amounts but there is nothing we can do,” he added.