Ekiti State Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr.Folorunso Olabode has re-emphasized the commitment of the Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi to the upliftment and development of farmers and agribusiness in the State as Deployment Of Mechanized Equipment For The 5-Star Cassava Model Farming Scheme was flagged off.
The Commissioner laid the emphasis in Ado Ekiti at the official Flag off of the 2020 cassava wet planting season and the launching of the 5-Star Cassava Model Farming, a collaboration programme facilitated by Ekiti State Government between Nigeria Cassava Growers Association, NCGA and the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, where Agricultural equipment and inputs for cassava farming was deployed to members of the association in the state.
Mr. Olabode said that the State, under the present administration has rendered numerous supports to various farmers’ groups to thrive, with the opening up of the State to Agricultural based investors for greater yield.
He said this gesture has yielded positive results with the taking over of the moribund Ikun Dairy farm by Promasidor, involvement of Promise Point and ABAAS in the installation of 350 and 100 metric tonnes production per day cassava mills at Itapaji and Ipao Ekiti respectively.
According to the Commissioner, JMK Foods is currently installing a commercial rice mill at Erifun, Ado Ekiti while FMS Company is involved in vegetable and horticultural crops vegetation in Iyemero Ekiti, stressing that this will, in no small measures, contribute to the socio and economic emancipation of the State in general and the benefitting areas in particular.
Mr. Olabode further said that the state Government is presently committing a sum of two biliion naira for the clearing of about five thousand additional virgin lands at different parts of Ekiti State to accommodate more investors in the Agricultural sector.
The Commissioner assured that the State government would guarantee the safety of lives of farmers and their farms from the marauding herdsmen with its collaboration with other south west State Governments in the establishment of Amotekun Security outfit and other security apparatus across the State.
While commending the leadership of NCGA for facilitating the five star anchor borrowers programme of the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN in the State, Mr. Olabode appreciated the apex bank for making funds available to the association through NIRSAL micro finance bank in support of cassava cultivation in Ekiti state.
He charged the benefitting farmers to make good use of the opportunity at boosting their production, creating employment, generating revenue to the State and raising their personal standard of living.
In his welcome address, the President of Nigeria Cassava Growers Association (NCGA), Pastor Segun Adewumi said that the 5-star cassava model program being launched was aimed at financing a fully mechanized cassava farming on the basis of five hectare of land to each participating farmer that would be expected to yield a minimum of thirty metric tons of cassava per hectare.
Pastor Adewumi explained that the idea was to feed cassava industries across the countries with adequate, regular and affordable feed stock all the year round, describing cassava as a wonderful crop that provides over 20 domestic food types to Nigerian people as well as derivatives like starch, ethanol, flour, sweetener and glucose syrup for industrial use.
He thanked the Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi for his involvement in the signing of memorandum of understanding between the association and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The president also appreciated the leadership of CBN for the confidence repose in his association by accepting to finance the five star cassava anchor borrowers program, with an assurance that members would ensure the success of the program in Ekiti State.
Delivering his own address, the Ado Ekiti branch Controller of CBN Alhaji Ganiyu Atobatele said that the Federal Government of Nigeria was not comfortable with the huge foreign exchange it annually expended on the importation of food in the past, adding that Nigeria used to be a major exporter of food and raw materials to industrial nations of the world.
The branch Controller revealed that the government, since its inception, has been devolving ways of reversing the trend of food importation by encouraging local cultivation and production of crops that will sustain the nation and boost its economic base and that of the local farmers.
Alhaji Atobatele reiterated that the program was aimed at gradually grooming about 1000 small scale farmers for increased production by supporting each to cultivate a minimum of five hectares of cassava in a planting season.
In her comment, the State Chairperson of NCGA Deaconess Funmi Ogunlola said that the State chapter of the association had been enjoying cordial working relationship with its parent body, which had made the State to be the first to benefit and launch the program in Nigeria.
She affirmed that the program would create employment for the youth and raise the income levels of participating farmers in Ekiti State.