Ogun commences 2020 planting, provides 3,500 farmers with CBN fund

Ogun state Government has officially commenced planting for the year 2020 with distribution of  cassava cuttings to the first batch of beneficiaries just as about  3,500 nominees have benefited in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) of  fund and inputs. These are part of the activities that took place yesterday at the flag off of 2020 planting season by the Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun in Asoro, Abeokuta.

Prince Abiodun stressed the need for  self reliance food production in the country in view of the Covid 19 that has made many nations to shut down their borders against the spread of the pandemic corona virus while he also commended the CBN effort through its ABP of fund and inputs support to the state with 3,500 nominees from the state that  have benefitted in the programme.

According to His Excellency "The fact that almost all the nations of the world have closed their borders has brought to the fore the importance of growing what we eat agenda. We see the importance of self-reliance in food productivity. I am sure we are all now aware of the importance of food production to food security’’

"3,500 Anchor Borrower Programme nominees in the State have been provided with fund and link with agricultural inputs and fields ready for tiling and planting an improved Diseased Resistance Cassava. 60,000 registrations have been recorded for seven crops and cassava recorded 25,000 applications. 2,497 farmers accredited with N500m in March 2020, by CBN, while additional payment of over N180m was accredited to additional 900 farmers in April, 2020"

He  added that the State government in collaboration with the CBN and the National Cassava Grower Association, has put in place a technology driven mechanism to checkmate sales and diversion of inputs, saying that  2,500 youths who had registered for the ABP would be linked to additional N530m with 60 bundles of improved cassava stems, and four bags of fertilizer, weed killers in an allotted additional 2,500 hectares of land cleared in 16 locations of the agricultural zones.

In his remark, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Adeola Odedina noted that the State was currently running the biggest ABP in Cassava in the whole of Africa, saying that the programme which was an exemplary one was anchored on mechanized planting system.

“We are running the biggest Anchor Borrowers Programme in Cassava in the whole of Africa. 27,000 farmers had applied for opportunities in cassava out of the 60,000 beneficiaries, this is the biggest Anchor Borrowers Programme in this continent, the Ogun State Anchor Borrowers Programme is exemplary," he said.

Speaking on behalf of other beneficiaries, Mrs. Beatrice Akanbo, appreciated the gesture, noting that it would go a long way in contributing their quota towards making the state sufficient in food production.