Gov. Ortom charges Benue people to embrace farming


 Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue has advised the people of the state to embrace farming, saying it is the only viable option out of the current economic meltdown in the country.
Ortom gave the advice on Wednesday at the NYSC farm at Tse Ukegber in Guma Local Government Council while launching the 2016 cropping season in the state.
He regretted that the declining oil prices in the international market had impeded on government expenditure, and called for inward thinking.
The governor said it had become necessary to grow the agricultural sector to generate revenue that would augment the shortfall in oil revenue.
He said his administration had purchased 5000 metric tonnes of liquid fertiliser and 10000 tonnes of organic fertiliser to be sold to farmers at 38 per cent subsidy.
According to him, one 50 Kg bag of the organic fertiliser would be sold to farmers at the cost of N4000 while one litre of the inorganic fertiliser would be sold for N2000.
Ortom warned against diversion of the commodity, stressing that offenders would be treated as saboteurs.
He said his administration was liaising with fertiliser vendors to ensure that the product was delivered straight to the beneficiaries.

Also speaking, the commissioner for Agriculture, Mr James Anbua, commended the governor for the early launch of the cropping season, and called on farmers to take advantage of the programme to boost their productivity.
He said farmers in the state were already benefiting from the different agricultural programmes of the administration and assured that better days were ahead.
Anbua said the government had set up a technical committee for the implementation of the CBN's borrowers’ anchor scheme, explaining that over 3,770 farmers would benefit from the scheme.
The state chairman of All Farmers Association (AFAM) and Guma Local Government Councils commended the governor for the early distribution of fertiliser and other farm inputs. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tomato disease outbreak: Institute appeals for research funding

10,000 women farmers to be engaged in ECOWAS rice project – official

NEGPRO project can create more jobs with inclusion of meat production— Badmus