41,000 Bona Fide Farmers Registered In Enugu
The Enugu State Government says it has so far registered over 41,000 bona fide farmers across the 17 Local Government Areas of the state.
Mr Patrick Ubru, the State Commissioner for Agriculture and Agro-Industrialisation, stated this during a chat with newsmen in Enugu.
Ubru highlighted that the essence of the registration was to identify the real farmers from the political ones who always took benefits meant for registered farmers in the state.
According to Ubru, there is need to harmonize and bring all farmers in the state into a single record file, thereby closing the gap for multiple farmer’s list in the state.
“Today I can tell you that we have a clean list of about 41,000 registered farmers across the value chain in the 17 Local Government Areas of the State and the registration is ongoing.
“We have a desk in charge of registering farmers. We estimate that we have over 80,000 Enugu citizens that engage in one farming activities or others.
“With the registration, if we need database for cassava farmers, we know where to get them,” the commissioner said.
He added that in February, through the support of the Federal Government, the state distributed farm inputs such as fertilizer and other agro chemicals to 200 farmers.
The commissioner said that the state would soon start distributing farm inputs for wet farming season after the training of farmers on best agricultural practices.
He explained that the delay in the distribution of inputs was due to absence of rain noting that the rains had not been stable to avoid damage to inputs.
“We are still watching the rain but in the next three weeks, distribution will start as Gov. Peter Mbah has provided enough for it,” he assured.
Ubru, who noted that due to climate change, which was a global issue, the ministry discovered that deforestation had affected the agriculture space.
He, however, said the state would plant more economic trees to protect its soil.
NAN/Oyenike Oyeniyi
