In line with the Covid
19 protocol of maintaining physical distancing, Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi
Akeredolu, SAN, on Thursday, May 14, 2020 flagged-off this year's Agricultural
Planting Season.
At the event which took
place at the Government House, Akure, Arakunrin Akeredolu reiterated his
administration's avowed commitment to the development of agriculture in the
state.
The governor also
announced the facilitation of two billion naira Commercial Agricultural Credit
Scheme (CACS) loan for land clearing, youth empowerment and other agricultural
development projects in the state.
The latest launch of
the planting season is the third of its kind since Arakunrin Akeredolu came on
board as the governor of Ondo State.
Since the Akeredolu-led
government came on board, Ondo State has recorded a number of milestone
achievements in the last years as a result of which there is significant leap
in the number of youths, women and even professionals who have embraced
agriculture and agric-business.
In spite of these
remarkable successes, Governor Akeredolu is still not comfortable with the
level of food insufficiency in the state.
He has, as a result,
urged all stakeholders' sincere dedication and commitment to agricultural
development for the purpose of actualising the avowed dream of self-reliance in
food production.
Also, Governor
Akeredolu-led government has embarked on a number of measures and support
programmes to mitigate the challenges that could hamper food production chain
this year due to the ripple effects of Covid 19 pandemic.
A few of the prioritised measures to mitigate the challenges are: distribution of 20 units of farm tractors with accompanying tillage implements to farmers at 30% subsidy; bush clearing of 1,250 hectares in 15 locations across the state to open up more land for small holder farmers; approval of palliative loan for disbursement to farmers at 6% interest rate as an intervention to guarantee good security during and after the Covid 19 pandemic.Add caption
Other measures include
the release of the sum of N9,098,210.65k to Ondo State Agricultural Commodity
Association (OSACA) and the sum of N1,819,642.13k to Ondo State Cooperative
Federation Limited (OSCOFED) respectively from Agricultural Development Fund as
grant to support agricultural development in the state; distribution of
improved maize seeds to farmers as part of palliative to cushion the effect of
Covid 19 pandemic and ensure good security; and the state government's plan to
distribute 500,000 and 50,000 cashew seedlings to farmers to further boost
cocoa and cashew production.
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