FG Provides 590 Tractors To Enhance Mechanised Agricuture

The Federal Government said it has provided 590 tractors and other heavy farm equipment to farmers in a bid to boost mechanised agriculture in the country.  
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (PMARD) Mr Sonny Echono, made this known at a news briefing on Wednesday in Abuja.
Echono said the farm equipment had been delivered to 80 Agricultural Equipment Hiring Enterprises (AEHEs) to facilitate easy access for 10 million registered farmers in 28 states at subsidised rates for the first phase.
He explained that the programme was made possible through public-private partnership, saying that the centres would be private sector driven, while government would provide enabling environment and necessary regulations.
According to him, these centres would create 800,000 jobs, cultivate 3.5 million hectares of land and add 14,000 tonnes to national food supply.
“The Mechanisation Value Chain of Federal Government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda has deployed 590 tractors, various harvest and post-harvest equipment to render mechanisation services to Nigerian farmers in 2015.
“The first batch of 80 AEHEs, the equipment for rendering mechanisation services has been deployed to the various states.
“Their locations are demand-driven and depending on the area of the Service Provider Operators that won the bids; they are not government-determined or government-influenced,’’ he said.
The permanent secretary listed the pilot states as Zamfara, Ondo, Oyo, Cross Rivers, Ogun, Adamawa, Taraba, Edo, Benue, Plateau, Niger, Yobe, Kaduna, Lagos, Kebbi, Katsina, Nasarawa, Akwa Ibom and Kano.
Others are, Gombe, Bauchi, Kwara, Kogi, Borno, Adamawa, Jigawa, Osun and Anambra.
Echono said at the end of second, third and fourth phases in four years, there would be a total of 1,230 AEHEs across the country.
He urged private investors and farmers to take advantage of the programme.