Ebonyi Govt Pledges To Tackle Cattlemen’s Menace

The Ebonyi Government
says it will tackle the menace posed by cattlemen to farmers during the 2016 farming season.
The State’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr Uchenna Orji, made the pledge during an interactive forum with agriculture stakeholders in Abakaliki.
Our correspondent  reports that the forum was organised to sensitise the stakeholders on the programmes and policies of the state government on agriculture for the 2016 farming season.
Orji, who was reacting to a question on the menace of cattlemen on farm crops, said that the matter would be seriously addressed by the government.
“The most disturbing aspect is that the cattle destroy farms owned by individuals and government on regular basis.
“They constitute the greatest threat to us and solving the problem will assist government to achieve its agricultural objectives in 2016.
“Modalities to check the menace have been put in place by the government and as the decision on it will be made public soon,’’ he said.
The commissioner remarked that the government had secured a N2 billion loan facility to develop its rice production.
He called on rice farmers to take advantage of opportunities of the credit facility.
“The government target to have 200 cooperative societies in each local government area with an average of 15 farmers in each society.
“In all, we are targeting that 39,000 farmers to drive the rice production agenda.
“About 774 cooperative societies have registered with the ministry in order to benefit from the facility,” he said.
He urged local council chairmen in the state to liaise with coordinators of development centres and community leaders, to ensure the success of the rice programme.
“The chairmen and coordinators have been mandated to prepare lands for the programme between January and March.
“They should also liaise with my ministry to ensure that secured lands are mapped and allocated to the benefiting cooperative societies.
“Government will provide farm machinery and inputs among others.
“Emphasis will also be placed on production of other crops, poultry and fisheries,’’ he said.
The Caretaker Chairman of Ohaozara Local Government Area, Mr Justice Ogbonna, who spoke on behalf of other chairmen, said that they were ready to actualise the government’s objectives in agriculture.
“We have surpassed the 2,500 hectares of land per local government as directed by the state government.
“We are also sensitising the people to ensure the success of the programme,” he said.
Also speaking, the Director of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in Ebonyi, Mr Cyrain Udechukwu, said that 600 farmers from the state would benefit from the credit facility initiated by the Federal Government this year.