RICE PRODUCTION: Delta Govt allocates 74 hectres of land, seedlings, others to 37 youths


ASABA-IN continuation of its effort towards boosting rice production in the State, the Delta State Government, Monday allocated 74 hectres of land to 37 youths for cultivation of rain fed rice in Ugiliamai, Ndokwa West Local Government Area of the state.

The beneficiaries who are trainees of the 2016/ 2017 Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurial Programme, YAGEP of the State Government on rice farming, got two hectres of land, 140 kg of certified seedlings, cash allowance of N50,000 for incidentals each with a monthly stipend of N15,000 and among other other starter packs that will aid them in the rice cultivation

Presenting the packages to the YAGEP beneficiaries, the State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa told them to see the empowerment as a stepping stone to their greatness, adding that the state government was determined to boost rice production in the state.

The Governor, who was represented by the Chief Job Creation Officer, Prof. Eric Eboh, congratulated them for the resilience through successfully completion of training, adding that the beneficiaries were the first set of "YAGEPreneurs to achieve the milestone of rice cultivation". He said that the rice when harvested would be branded "Delta YAGEP Rice".

The Governor said "So far, 74 hectares of land have been given. The government will help with mechanized land preparation, mechanized planting of seeds and harvesting of paddy. We are expecting nothing less than 300 metric tons of paddy."

Also, the State Commissioner for Agrifulture, Mr Austin's Chikezie who was represented by Mr Pius Okonjo told the beneficiaries to count themselves fortunate to be part of the empowerment programme, saying that the Okowa led government is out to reduce unemployment in the state.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tomato disease outbreak: Institute appeals for research funding

The National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan, has appealed for funding to carry out research and create awareness on the tuta absoluta pest on tomatoes. The Institute’s Head of Vegetable Programme, Dr Olagorite Adetula, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Friday that there was an urgent need to tackle the problem to save the economy. Adetula said the institute needed money to do surveillance survey of the pest/damage, ascertain the impact of the damage and proffer solution for eradicating the pest. She appealed to the Federal Government to help the institute get pheromones to lure and trap the pests and distribute to farmers. ``Spraying insecticides is not the best, the pest has high production rate, some of them can escape while spraying it and they will be resistant to the insecticide thereby causing us more cost. ``The pheromones can be used for six to eight weeks before changing it, it is very effective, the pest has short life cycle, wit...
Read more

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

Image
 Mr Richard Olafare, the President, Seed Entrepreneurs Association of Nigeria (SEEDAN) says 10,000 women will be engaged in the recently inaugurated Rice Seed Up-Scaling Project. This is contained in a presentation on the project made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday. Olafare said 8,000 youths would also be engaged in the scaling project. According to him, the number of women and youths represented 50 per cent and 40 per cent respectively of the 20,000 farmers that will participate in the project. NAN reports that the project is an initiative of the West Africa Seed Programme (WASP) in support of the ECOWAS Rice Offensive Programme that was inaugurated in 2014. Among other objectives, it is targeting the production of 60,000 metric tonnes of paddy rice for Nigeria by December 2017, using 1,200 certified seeds. The project is being implemented by SEEDAN in collaboration with the West and Central Africa Council for Agricultura...
Read more

Monsanto Nigeria Launches 3 Conventional Maize Hybrids

Maize farmers across Nigeria now have 3 high yielding conventional maize hybrids to choose from the DEKALB ® brand as Monsanto Agriculture Nigeria Limited launches 3 conventional maize hybrids. The launch held in Abuja on Tuesday May 17 2016 had in attendance farmers, development partners, government regulatory bodies and other stakeholders from both the private and public sectors of the economy. The launch of these hybrid seeds follows their registration by the National Committee on Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Varieties, Livestock Breeds and Fisheries in February 2016. The white maize hybrid, DK234 alongside the 2 yellow maize hybrids, DK920 and DK818 obtained registration approval for use in Nigeria after testing across various agro ecological zones on multi-location farms. The white maize hybrid DK234 with yield potential of 13 tonnes per hectare is well adapted for the Southern and Northern Guinea Savanna ecologies and shows tolerance to Maize Streak Virus, ...
Read more