Lawrence Nwimo, Awka
As part of plans to support farmers in the state, the Anambra State Government has given its assurance of the supply of specialised farm inputs.
The State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Forster Ihejiofor, gave the assurance while addressing journalists in Awka, Anambra State capital on Thursday.
He said farmers in the state are going to receive subsidised inputs to boost their outputs and food production at the end of the 2023 farming season.
The commissioner emphasised that the government has the intention to develop a good system that produces healthy, affordable, and sustainable food. The goal, he said, is to make food available for everybody in the state.
He said “The government of Anambra State is committed to using Agriculture as a tool for lifting people out of poverty.
“We have been collaborating with development partners to subsidise agricultural input to farmers; helping them particularly along the value chain of cassava, and rice, among others to enable them to strengthen their means of livelihood and broaden their scope of operations.”
The commissioner who spoke on the government’s palm and coconut investments said the state has procured over 7,000 farm palm and coconut seedlings as a way of boosting its socioeconomic programme.
He said: “Last year, the government procured and distributed 370,000 seedlings. These seedlings, on maturity, will produce fruits that will be worth over a billion. We only spent about N500m to procure the seedlings, and by the time they begin to produce, in two years time, we shall be harvesting into the pockets of the Anambra people and government by extension via taxes and others.
“When these crops reach maximum productivity, which is 7 years, it will amount to GDP growth.
“This year, 2023, the government is upscaling this socioeconomic programme by procuring almost 700,000 seedlings: 500,000 of oil palm and 170,000 coconut seedlings which will be distributed purely as a social economic programme to lift people out of poverty.
“We are targeting 400 beneficiaries from every political ward out of the 326 wards in Anambra. If we are giving five seedlings to each of the beneficiaries, that means we are giving 2,000 seedlings to everyone political ward.”
The commissioner said the state government is working on a programme with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to convert flooding which has become an annual menace to the gain and advantage of the state.
“We are working on short-term annual crops, that can be quickly converted to durable products for human consumption and livestock production.
“We are also looking at creating channels through collaborations with UNDP for the flood to go into the areas where water is required for irrigation and where also the aquaculture sector could be encouraged and promoted for fish meal production.
“So, very soon, the annual flooding, giving the programmes that the government is developing, will become a source of abundant economic benefit to the people of Anambra State.”
