Abuja – Stakeholders in agriculture have said that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s plans to establish additional 60 agricultural equipment hiring enterprises will boost mechanised farming in the country.
Some of the stakeholders told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday that the hiring centres would have multiple effect in farm produce.
According to them, the less than 100 existing hiring centres are insufficient in view of the high demand for the equipment.
Chief Abiola Adetokunbo, Chief Executive Officer of Abiola Farm Nig. Ltd., said it was the responsibility of the Federal Government to provide sustainable leverages for mechanised farming to strive.
“I am indeed happy with the level of progress so far. I think the ministry is being repositioned to serve farmers and agricultural stakeholders better,’’ Adetokunbo said.
Adetokunbo said the additional 60 national agricultural equipment hiring enterprises could not have been agreed at a better time.
Mr Akpe Ape, a farm Manager in Karu, said the decades of traditional farming had negated the growth of agriculture in the country.
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“Mechanise farming is the antidote to this setback. We have fertile lands in the country; the problem has always been how to process these lands to grow crops.
“We cannot achieve much with the primitive approach of tilling the soil,’’ Ape said.
On his part, Alhaji Baji Musa, Chairman of Soya Beans Growers Association, Kurudu in FCT, said the additional hiring centres would promote farming.
“Please assist us by telling the authority that some centres must be sited in rural areas like Kurudu here. A lot more could be achieved if we got access to the equipment,’’ Musa said.
The Federal Government last year set aside N50 billion as Mechanisation Intervention Support Fund for the establishment of 1,200 private sector-driven Agricultural Equipment Hiring Enterprises.
It also promised to provide mechanisation support grants to farmers to allow them to hire agricultural mechanisation services.
The ministry also prepared to expand the Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) and the e-wallet scheme to provide subsidised electronic mechanisation to support farmers.
Already, over 6,590 units of tractors, 13, 500 power tillers and harvest and post-harvest equipment are presently available in 80 centres. (NAN)