Plans To Export Yam Excite Rivers Farmers

The plans to embark on yam exportation by the Federal Government have sparked excitement among farmers in Rivers State.
Some farmers, who spoke with The Tide in Port Harcourt, Monday said the plans should be substantive and not otherwise.
A farmer, Mr. Gabriel Okolo, said that the Federal Government’s initiatives was timely, going by the recession in the country.
He noted that such plans, if upheld, would encourage yam farming in this country.
Okolo maintained that lack of support from the government was part of the reasons for poor yam production in Nigeria.
In his views Amadi Bobby Ezeji, noted that, yam production was a tedious business and needed a huge backing from the conconated authorities.
He told The Tide that venturing into yam exportation should be greeted with both hands so as to boast yam farming.
Eze-ji, explained how the project would turn many to yam farmers, saying that farming should be encouraged at all levels.
Also speaking, another yam farmer, Mrs. Rose Obi, feared that government agents would still sabotage the project.
She reasoned that, upon full commencement of the scheme, all government agents and others would become yam farmers, thereby denying the real farmers the opportunity.
Obi pointed out that, if the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development could set an unbiased measurement for the project, yam farmers would key in and make it a success.
It would be recalled that the Federal Government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development had announced that, it would soon embark on yam exportation as part of efforts to boost the country’s economy.