The National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) has distributed agricultural inputs to farmers in Ebonyi and Osun states.
The input distribution is targeted at assisting farmers across the country to maximize crop cultivation for improved yields and increased food production.
About 900 accredited beneficiaries of the empowerment programme received high-grade fertilizer, herbicides and improved rice and maize seeds for Ebonyi and rice and beans seeds for Osun states that can effectively cover half a hectare of farmland.
In Ebonyi, beneficiaries from the benefiting local governments of the state made up of mostly women and youths received their inputs at Ishiagu Community in Ivo Local Government area of the state.
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Also, 400 farmers consisting of 200 maize and 200 rice farmers were drawn from 10 communities in Ohaozara/Onicha/Ivo Federal Constituency for the exercise.
In Osun state, 500 farmers drawn from all the local government of the state, were empowered with Maize and beans seeds in Oshogbo the state capital.
Speaking to the farmers in both states, the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of NALDA, Prince Paul Ikonne who was represented by the head Soil Science Department Lucius Ndimele said NALDA, with the directives of President Bola Tinubu would ensure that Nigerians produce enough food for Nigerians.
He said NALDA would continue to distribute these inputs till it get to farmers in every states of the country.
According to him, the distribution exercise targets genuine farmers in the grassroots in order to boost food production and access to staple foods in three country.
“The government is making sure that you can produce what you’ll eat by providing you inputs and the essence of what we’re doing here today is to ensure Nigerians understand the importance of farming, make sure we produce what we eat and reduce the price of food in the market”.
It would be recalled that President Tinubu had declared a state of emergency on food hence the move by NALDA to compliment the President’s food security efforts through empowerments programme to cushion the effect of high cost of living.
It is expected that in the next 3 to 4 months, the outputs from this programme, would help in the significant drop in the cost of food items in the market.
The empowerment of farmers by NALDA is a continuous exercise to encourage more Nigerians go into farming to ensure self-sufficiency in food production thus boosting food security for the teeming population.
NIGERIAN TRIBUNE