… Donates N100m To Kogi

The Federal Government has donated N100 million to enhance the accelerated rice production programme of Kogi State government.

The Minister of Agriculture, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, announced this recently in Lokoja at the inauguration of dry season paddy rice production programme of the state government.

He said that Kogi would also receive 6,000 bags of free fertilisers and 1,000 bags of rice from the ministry to support the programme.

Adesina said that the money was to support the efforts of the government to clear land in preparation for the commencement of rice production.

He, however, directed that 30 per cent of the money, some bags of fertilisers and rice be allocated to women rice farmers in the state.

The minister commended the government for initiating the programme and urged other states to key into the Federal Government agriculture transformation agenda.

Adesina said that Federal Government Growth Enhancement Programme was designed to put agriculture on a revolutionary path and make the country a net exporter of food.

He said that the revolution in the sector was already yielding the desired results, adding that the sector attracted 8 billion dollars worth of Foreign Direct Investment in 2012.

Adesina said that the over 1.2 million farmers registered by the federal government produced the 8.1 million tonnes of food which were later released to the markets to cushion the effects of last year’s flood.

He said that the Federal Government had also released N9 billion for food recovery programme.

The Minister used the opportunity of the inauguration to launch the distribution of farming inputs donated by African Development Bank to farmers affected by the flood.

In his remarks, Gov. Idris Wada said that his administration would use the banks of rivers Benue and Niger for its accelerated rice production programme.

He said that 10,000 hectares of land on the river banks had already been earmarked for the cultivation of rice while over 6,000 farmers had already indicated interest in the programme.

The Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Olufemi Bolarin decried the negative effects of the 2012 flood disaster on the agriculture sector in the state.

He said the accelerated rice production programme was initiated as part of efforts to ensure food security, adding that over 3,000 hectares of land had already been cleared for the project.