The inaccessibility of good quality agricultural inputs remains an impediment to maximising aggregate agricultural production output for the nation, the minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Akinwunmi Adesina has said.
Adesina who was represented by the permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ibukun Odusote, made the assertion recently on the occasion of the official commissioning of the one-stop shop agro-inputs centre at Iseyin, Iseyin Local Government Area, Oyo State. According to the minister, the centre constructed by the Federal Government for the purpose of ensuring the availability, accessibility and affordability of agricultural inputs such as fertilizer, agro-chemicals, quality seeds, livestock feeds among others, will serve as access warehouse facility for inputs for farmers.
Three of these centres are being established at various locations in Oyo State, 1 unit each at Iseyin, Fasola and Ago-Amodu in Iseyin, Oyo-West and Saki-East LGAs respectively.
He said the inaccessibility of good quality agricultural inputs as well as the Federal Government intention to withdraw from direct procurement and distribution of all agricultural inputs, informed the decision of the Ministry to establish at least 1 one-stop shop agro-inputs centre in each of the Local Government Areas of the Federation by 2015.
NONSO NDUMANYA
