C’River targets 6,000 hectares for cassava cultivation


Cross River is targeting over 6,000 hectares for cassava cultivation under the Fadama 111 Ad+ project, an official said on Tuesday.

The state Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Prof. Anthony Eneji, made this known during an assessment tour of Fadama 111 Ad+ cassava project in Akpabuyo Local Government Area of the state.

The tour was by a team from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Eneji said that the government was determined to take agriculture to the next level through value chain.
“Our target is 6,000 hectares because we are the second largest producer of cassava in Nigeria.
“The land is there and we are ready to maximize the opportunity offered by the project to make Cross River great in cassava production,” he said.
He solicited the support of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture in meeting the target, especially in the area of stumping and land clearing occasioned by the difficult terrain in some parts of the state.
Mr Appeh Auta, Senior Technical Adviser to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, assured the state of the ministry’s readiness to support it to realise its Fadama 111 Ad+ dream.
He said that the team was in Cross River to get a firsthand knowledge of the implementation strategy of the state’s Fadama 111 Ad+ project

“Now that we have spoken with the commissioner, we have heard about the problem of trumping and land clearing as well as other related issues.
“Assistance will be provided to the state to ensure that more people go into agriculture so that we can achieve food sufficiency in the country,’’ he said.
He described Fadama as one of the key components of the ministry’s agenda for ensuring food security in the country because of its grassroots base.
“Fadama deals with people at the grassroots in terms of mobilisation and training of rural farmers and provision of inputs to farmers.
“It is part of the ministry’s agenda to ensure food security in the country,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the team visited 100-hectare cassava farm owned by one of the Fadama cluster groups in Akpabuyo.

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