Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State has assured farmers in the state of a better deal saying his administration has taken steps to evolve appropriate pricing mechanism for marketing of Agricultural products through Cooperative Societies.
Governor Emmanuel gave the assurance when he launched Fadama 111 Additional Financing Cassava Intervention Project at AKADEP Seed Farm, Awa Iman, Onna Local Government Area of the State.
He described agriculture as man’s initial occupation and called on the people to embrace the practice emphasising that every developed Nation overcomes food insecurity through intensive agricultural practice for consumption and production of raw material for industries.
The Governor said plans are under way to procure improved seedlings of corn from the Mozart Group in the United States Of America for cultivation in the next planting season to replace the local variety which is susceptible to pest infestation and that the seedling which is sweeter and richer in nutrients would attract pharmaceutical industries and Feed Mills for poultry and livestock.
While calling for concerted efforts for the realisation of agricultural revolution in the state, Governor Emmanuel used the occasion to warn youths to desist from thwarting development programmes of the administration saying such action negates development in the society.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr Mathew Ekaette thanked the Governor for setting the platform towards the attainment of food sufficiency in the state and announced that the Ministry has installed Cassava processing Machines in the three Senatorial Districts of the State for production of sixty metric tones of Garri per day.
Dr Ekaette said the Ministry is working towards cultivating more than two thousand hectares of land for the first planting season and appealed to the Governor to facilitate Legislation to protect Government Lands against encroachment.
The number one farmer in the state described Fadama 111 project as an impact built programme to affect rural Communities where the farming population is dominant and expressed optimism that poverty level of farmers in the rural Communities would be reversed courtesy of the Fadama package.
Also, Mr Peter Ajibaye who represented the Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Agriculture said the programme is a follow up to the agreement reached at the 2016 National Council On Agriculture which harped on the need for food sufficiency in the country.
He announced that approval has been granted for the release of two hundred million credit facility to support full value chain for cassava, rice, tomatoes and sorghum for six core states.
On his part, Dr Gbenga Olukoju who represented the National Coordinator Fadama 111 Additional Financing Project, noted that Fadama 111 is a game changer in agricultural development as against the old system of subsistent agriculture and congratulated the Governor for paying up the counterpart funds for the commencement of the programme in the state.
In a goodwill message, the Chairman Awa Cassava Production Cluster, Mr Bernard Duncan commended the Governor for his initiative in bringing down the cost of garri by fifty percent and improving the agricultural sector of the state.