By Dare Akogun
The Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has conducted an extensive tour of rice plantations in Edu and Patigi local government areas over the weekend to evaluate the impact of seedlings, fertilizers, and other agricultural inputs recently provided by the state government.
Represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Toyosi Thomas-Adebayo, and accompanied by the Director of Personnel Finance and Supply in the Ministry, Mayaki Babadzuko Ma’adu, the Governor’s team visited several rice farms to ensure that the distributed inputs were effectively utilized by the farmers.
The Governor announced plans for a subsequent ‘feedback mission’ to Kaiama and other parts of the state to inspect maize and soybeans farmlands.
This follows his personal inspection last week of the Kwara Youths Farm in Malete (Moro LG), where 1,500 hectares are being cultivated for soybean production this season.
It would be recalled that the Governor AbdulRazaq’s administration recently launched the distribution of seedlings, fertilizers, and other farm inputs to support 10,000 farmers across the state’s sixteen local governments.
This initiative aims to ensure a bumper harvest and promote food security.
“Today, we are here for a monitoring exercise to meet rice farmers who benefitted from the government’s interventions and check their farms to make sure that what they have been given was put to use. That is the main purpose of the exercise,” said the Governor’s representative in Edu.
“One of the things we do as a government to improve food security is to improve productivity. One of the ways we do that is to give timely and quality inputs to our farmers,” he added.
The rice farms inspected were in Lafiagi Ward 1 and 2 of Edu, and Lade, Sakpefu-Lade, Sheshi, and Rogun in Kpada Ward 2 of Patigi local government. Locals reported that at least 20,000 hectares are being cultivated for rice production in these areas.
Governor AbdulRazaq expressed satisfaction with the farms’ progress and commended the farmers for their commitment to the government’s food security drive.
“I am very happy about what I have seen. Clearly, the farmers have put to use what they got. We have been able to motivate our farmers to do more. We also have a number of farmers waiting to get support from the government, and they will get it in due course,” he said.
“We have carried out three interventions this year. We started with free input to 3,400 rice farmers and did another under the NG-CARES FADAMA for 600,000 farmers, which included assets like boats for fishermen, and the recently concluded intervention with agrochemicals, fertilizers, and seeds for 10,000 farmers.
Even with all these, we still have more farmers seeking the support of the state government. So, we are going to support more farmers,” the Governor added.
Several farmers lauded the Governor’s support in boosting farming activities in Edu and Patigi and called for further assistance.
Bala Sa’adu from Lade Community highlighted the benefits farmers received from the Dukulade Irrigation Scheme and the government’s support in desilting blocked canals essential for their water supply.
“About two years ago, when the entire canal was filled with sand, we appealed to the Governor for help. The government supported us with about N7 million to rectify the problem, and everyone had a bumper harvest last year. The canal served us well until recently when it was blocked again,” Sa’adu said.
“The government has also provided us with fertilizers, chemicals, and rice seeds free of charge. We all know how much a bag of fertilizer costs now. So, all these interventions are very commendable because they reduce the cost of production,” he added, requesting further assistance to fix their blocked canal.
Alhaji Muhammad, Secretary of Sakpefu Community, praised the government’s support for rice farmers and requested an extension of farmland to increase yields.
Muhammadu Kudu Yakub from Lafiagi thanked the government for its assistance but noted the need for more support, especially pumping machines to access adequate water for improved production.
The Ministry had earlier visited other local government areas on the same mission, including Asa and Ilorin East.
