3,500 farmers receive input in Ogun

The first batch of Cassava Value Chain (CVC) beneficiaries under the Ogun State Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) has received input.

The state’s Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Adeola Odedina, while congratulating the beneficiaries at the official flag-off of the 2020 planting season at the Agro Services Corporation, Asero, Abeokuta, Ogun State, said that to link at a single swipe and connect a such number of farmers (3500) for a single commodity to 60 bundles of improved cassava stems, four bags of fertilisers, 11 litres of herbicides each, funds and free extension services, with captured biodata was unprecedented, not only in Ogun State and Nigeria but also in Africa as a whole.

Odedina stated that the present administration under the leadership of Dapo Abiodun had identified agriculture as one of the pivots upon which the economy of the state would stand.

He said: “This has informed the government’s drive towards ensuring the state’s participation in the ongoing Anchor Borrowers’ Programme of the Federal Government through the CBN intervention fund.

“This programme has registered over 60,000 participants in Ogun State across seven value chains, which includes cassava.

“To date, N680 million has been disbursed by CBN to 3,500 cassava farmers in Ogun State in the last six weeks.

“Inputs would be received by beneficiaries at the point of use to maintain the integrity of Ogun State Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP).”

The commissioner explained that the onset of the rainy season signifies the entrance of a new planting season and that Ogun State government is leaving no stone unturned to prepare for a bountiful harvest despite the threats and restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Odedina, who commended the governor for ensuring that the state retakes her seat as a foremost agro-industrial and food security centre to be reckoned with in Nigeria, also appreciated the governor for approving the COVID-19 agricultural strategy that allows uninterrupted farming and input distribution activities amid the current pandemic situation.