Our Target is for Edo farmers to cultivate 250,000 hectares of land – Obaseki

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has disclosed that the goal of his administration in the next two years is to ensure that farmers in the State cultivate a minimum of 250,000 hectares of farmland.

Obaseki said this weekend at the 13th Esan Economic Empowerment Workshop, with the theme: “Modernizing Agri-business in Esan Land for Economic Empowerment,” organized by the Association of Esan Professionals.

According to the governor, agriculture is at the center of the economic reconstruction programme of the Federal Government as well as Edo State government due to the sector’s potential to create millions of jobs.

“This initiative is in line with my administration’s commitment to create 200,000 jobs for Edo people, which we promised during our electioneering campaign,” he said.

Obaseki pointed out that agriculture is being embraced in Edo State due to the incentives his administration is providing to make access to land, fertilizer and other inputs easy for farmers.

He further said that his administration has revamped the Edo fertilizer plant in Auchi to enable farmers have same type of fertilizer after proper examination of the soil to ensure healthy crop production.

“We have equally revamped the College of Agriculture in the state to train our farmers and help them with the required knowledge to grow healthy agricultural products for export

Obaseki said the Gelegele Sea Port is another important project that will help in the export of finished agricultural products.

He urged the youths to embrace agriculture as his administration is creating the enabling environment for large scale farming, easy access to land and improved seedlings.

“Agriculture is now scientifically done and mechanization will help us compete in the international agricultural market” he added.

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