Enugu Targets 200% Increase In Cluster Cassava Farms

The Enugu State Government targets 200 per cent increase in the establishment of cluster farms for improved yields in cassava during the 2012 farming season, says the Commissioner for Agriculture, Prof. Martin Anikwe.

Anikwe told newsmen in Enugu that cassava would be one of the major crops to be grown alongside other arable crops.

According to him, Enugu State produces about 3.2 tonnes of cassava annually, making Enugu the leading state in cassava production in the South East Zone.

The commissioner also said that agricultural farms and facilities in the state would be revived to make them attractive to local and foreign investors.

He disclosed that a seven-man team from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture had visited the cassava production and processing sites at Isu-Awa, in Awgu local government area Ugwuomu Nike in Enugu East local government area.

The commissioner said that the state government had commenced the registration of genuine farmers to ensure a successful and effective implementation of the cassava transformation programme of the Federal Government”.

According to him, the exercise is also to enable them to benefit from the provision of fertiliser and other agricultural inputs.

The commissioner said that farmers would be grouped in clusters according to the crops they grew and in localities where they had comparative advantage, to ensure the success of the exercise.

Anikwe urged the Federal Government to establish silos in the state for the storage of products during harvest, to reduce wastage.

Meanwhile, the wife of the state Governor, Mrs Clara Chime, has urged women to apply preventive and proactive measures in maternal and child health care to ensure a sustained improvement in health.

She said in Enugu at the flag-off campaign of the November 2011 Maternal Newborn and Child Health Week that preventive measures were cost effective but result oriented.

Chime, represented by the wife of the Deputy Governor, Mrs Nneka Onyebuchi, announced that free health care service would be provided for women in all health institutions in the state.

According to her food supplements like vitamin A, insecticide treated nets, de-worming drugs would also be provided for children in the state.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Fidelia Akpa, commended UNICEF and WHO, for their assistance in improving maternal health care in the state.

Akpa said the government would continue to pay serious attention to maternal and child health care.

The Enugu State Coordinator of WHO, Dr Onyinye Emesina, urged women to always seek medical attention when necessary instead of engaging in self medication.

Also speaking at the occasion, Dr Ogechi Akalonu, a staff of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, advised mothers to mobilise members of their communities to enable them take part in the programme.