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NCAM boss wants subsidies on agric tools and machinery

By Abiodun Fagbemi, Ilorin
24 November 2019   |   4:14 am
The Executive Director, National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation (NCAM), Dr. Yomi Kasali has canvassed subsidies for agricultural tools and machinery to boost local production of rice in Nigeria.

The Executive Director, National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation (NCAM), Dr. Yomi Kasali has canvassed subsidies for agricultural tools and machinery to boost local production of rice in Nigeria.

Kasali also said the Federal Government should protect local agricultural fabricators, designers and engineers against foreign multi-nationals for growth of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).He spoke in Ilorin during a special skill- acquisition and empowerment training for youths in fabrication of agro-processing machines.

He said: ‘’To increase accessibility and affordability of these equipment to farmers, government needs to subsidise agro-machineries, as it is done in the general input subsidy, such as seed and herbicide, among others, to make them affordable for farmers. Farmers should also be organised into cooperative groups to share capital and risk.’

‘’Farmers still employ primitive tools to till the soil, yet they produce about 70 percent of food in Nigeria. Therefore, developing these low cost technologies to agriculture will increase production. It will also help in cultivating more lands and further help in irrigating most of the agricultural land, making sure the land is cultivated at least twice a year.’’The event, which drew participants across the nation’s 36 states, was bankrolled by the state Ministries of Agriculture and ADPs, just as NCAM provided the resource persons.

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