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Food security: Kwara distributes 50 tractors to farmers

Wole Adedeji, Ilorin

The Kwara State Government has distributed 50 tractors to farmers at subsidised rates as part of its strategies to strengthen large scale farming, boost food security and lessen poverty rate in the state.

The tractors, 50 in number, were given at N10,000 per hectare of land which is about N6,000 less than the market cost of hiring the machinery from private firms.

The distribution which  took place at Lafiagi  in Edu Local Government of the state was said to be under the government’s “Tractorisation Subsidy Scheme” to boost food production in the state.

Technical Assistant to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Agriculture, Abdulqowiy Olododo, which spoke with journalists said; “this is the first phase of our interventions to the farmers and we will move from tractorisation to supplying input to the farmers.

“This is in fulfilment of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s electoral promise to support local farmers in the state.

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“Secondly, we took this step because we are envisaging that there could be food shortage as a result of ravaging COVID-19.

“So, this is one of the ways we think we can upscale food production in Kwara State”, he explained.

Olododo said the initiative was to support both the subsistence and commercial farmers in Kwara State to boost their production for this season at heavily subsidised rate of N10,000 per hectare for ploughing, ridging and harrowing.

Also, Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Job Creation, Alhassan Aliyu, disclosed that the  50 tractors were acquired by  government for distribution to all local government areas,  based on request.

On her part, a member of the state Task Force on the Implementation of the Tractorisation Subsidy Scheme and Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Sustainable Development Goals, Dr. Jamila Bio-Ibrahim, said the scheme was in line with Goal Two of the SDGs.

The aim he said was to  eradicating hunger, improve nutrition, and food security and at the same time promote sustainable agriculture in the state.

“Agricultural mechanisation will improve yields, address nutrition issues and food security in the state,” she said.

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Bio-Ibrahim urged farmers to take advantage of the subsided tractors to improve yields so as to encourage  government to do more.

Muhammad Shaaba Lafiagi, a farmer in Lafiagi, thanked the state government for the initiative, saying the tractors would improve their production this year.

His words; “It’s been a very long time we got such support from the state government. This will help us greatly and bring development. We are optimistic that we will get more support from the government,” said Shaaba Lafiagi.

The scheme had earlier kickstarted in Moro local government, and waz scheduled to be launched in Kwara South and Kwara Central Senatorial Districts respectively, in the next few days.

This comes barely two weeks after Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Adenike Afolabi-Oshatimehin flagged off the 2020 planting season during which the government offered technical supports to farmers

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