Stakeholders urge agric policies continuity
Stakeholders in the agricultural sector of Nigeria’s economy, have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to sustain the agricultural policies of former President Goodluck Jonathan, to boost food production.
The stakeholders, who spoke to BusinessDay in Benin City, the Edo State capital, at the flag-off of fertilizer/herbicides distribution to cassava farmers in the state for 2015 farming season, affirmed that the programme has impacted well on farmers and urged the All Progressives Congress (APC) led government to consolidate on it.
They also urged President Buhari to sustain the national land clearing programme, initiated by the Jonathan administration, to make more land available to farmers and encourage mechanised farming, especially in the Southern part of the country.
Austine Maduka, national public relations officer, Nigeria Cassava Growers Association (NCGA), explained that Oyo state has taken a lead role in this and has so far cleared over one-thousand hectares of farmland for farmers to cultivate cassava and other crops.
He explained that lack of access to land is one of the major challenges faced by farmers in the country, stressing that lands are either owned by government or community land owners.
Therefore, he urged the Federal Government to make a law that would make it easier for farmers to have access to land, as it is not easy for farmers currently, to have access to these lands.
In his words, “The problem we have in the Southern part of the country is that we have thick forests that are not easy for farmers to go in and start cultivating, unlike in the North where you have plain mass lands for people to go in and farm. If the government can take it upon itself and start clearing at least 1000 hectares of land annually for each state, it will go a long way in helping farmers.
“Mechanisation of farming is also very critical, because days are gone when people used hoe and cutlasses for cultivation. It is only in Oyo that farmers can have easy access to tractors. They have hiring units in all the local government areas, where farmers can go and hire tractors to help them in their farms, “he said.
Sunny Oriaifo, direction for extension, Edo Agricultural programme (ADP), who buttressed Maduka’s opinion, explained that farmers in Edo State, especially cassava growers, benefited immensely from the Agric policies of the former president Jonathans administration and urged President Buhari to continue with the policy.
According to him, from my experience, if a government leaves office, it leaves with all its policies, because no other administration will want to continue with those policies and that is the fear now.
“But we are equally praying that the present administration in the country should continue with the agricultural policies of former President Jonathan, because farmers are enjoying what he has put in place and if the present administration could continue with the programmes, it will be better for Nigerian farmers, “ he posited.
GODFREY OFURUM