Audu Ogbeh |
The Federal Government has said that food shortage problems in the country will be over in the next two years.
Towards achieving this, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has announced that the ministry had reclaimed all Universities of Agriculture in the country from the National Universities Commission.
He said this is necessary as the federal government strives to enhance the efficient production of food as well as meet the target of food sufficiency by 2018.
Towards achieving this, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has announced that the ministry had reclaimed all Universities of Agriculture in the country from the National Universities Commission.
He said this is necessary as the federal government strives to enhance the efficient production of food as well as meet the target of food sufficiency by 2018.
The minister who stated these while playing host to the Governor of
Anambra State, Mr. Willie Obiano, in Abuja assured Nigerians that the
food shortage problem in the country will soon be over.
On measures to achieve this, he said the ministry was willing to
help state governments to ensure that the target was met, adding that
one of the specific areas of assistance to Anambra State was in fish
fingerling production as well as in other aspects of agriculture that
would help in boosting food production across the country.
According to the Punch, the minister explained that the ministry
was considering the need to add 10 per cent soya beans to cassava to
enrich it with more protein and increase its nourishment for children.
He added that about 15,000 broken down tractors, out of the 30,000
available in the country, would be rehabilitated to support farmers, as
the government works hard to meet the 2018 food sufficiency target.
Ogbeh commended the commitment of Obiano in the agricultural sector
and promised to support the state in the ministry’s programmes.
He further encouraged the state to consider the use of lemon grass
to tackle erosion problems in Anambra and lauded the state government
for improving its rice production capacity from 80,000 metric tonnes to
210,000 metric tonnes.
While explaining that the ministry had succeeded in reclaiming all
the Universities of Agriculture, Ogbeh said the FMARD had also commenced
the process of training 100,000 agricultural extension workers up to
the local government areas.
Obiano, in his remarks, said Anambra State spent about N150M last
year to boost seedlings and that it had commenced the exportation of
edible vegetable leaves to the United Kingdom. He quipped that about
N20M was used for the training of farmers on packaging of produce for
exportation.
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