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The federal government has approved the disbursement of produce processing machines to farmers in the rural areas to boost agricultural production in the country. The project is another indirect measure meant to discourage rural-urban migration.
Audu Ogbeh, minister of agriculture and rural development said the processing machines would boost the cultivation of crops like rice, cassava, millet, maize and other local produce.
He said the project was being executed in partnership with the ministry of finance. “We will identify commodities in various locations, identifying what is suitable in each area, according to their ecological situation, organize the people into cooperatives and allocate the machines to them as loans.’’
Each beneficiary, Ogbeh said must be registered with the village chiefs, security agencies and the Divisional Police Officers, DPO, for easy identification and prompt repayment of the loan. He, however, lamented that the country was fast losing its productive young people to political thuggery, migration to Europe, Motorcycle operators, while abandoning agriculture.
“Government will be irresponsible if we don’t do anything. These people can hardly pay interest rates of between 18 to 25 percent. This is a way to assist them make meaningful earnings through agricultural revolution,’’ he said.
– Oct. 19, 2018 @ 19:19 GMT |
Tags: FG approves Distribution of Processing Machines to Farmers
