President Tinubu expresses concern over mechanization... says Agric Minister

The Minister of Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security ( FMAFS) Sen. Abubakar Kyari has expressed President Tinubu concerns for Agricultural mechanization status in Nigeria saying he is of the view that something positive must be drastically done to it towards high food productivity.

Senator Kyari was expressing how seriously the status of Agricultural mechanization is bordering President Tinubu especially with low numbers of tractors which were less than five thousand compared to mass land begging for cultivations in a meeting with the John Deere official yesterday at Abuja.

Abubakar Kyari, revealed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's concerns regarding the current state of mechanization in Nigeria, stressed the urgency of the revamping situation by confronting the challenges towards mass food productivity in the country.

Agric minister emphasized the necessity of ramping up tractors' availability to a total of 70,000 units to drive the country's transition to mechanized farming, saying the slow progress was currently bordering President Tinubu and that was why Memorandum of Understanding was signed with John Deere company towards supplying 2,000 tractors annually for cultivations expansion.

During the meeting, discussions also revolved around critical issues such as securing financial support, establishing assembly facilities, providing training for operators and mechanics to ensure efficient machinery management.

Also, plans were outlined for the implementation of a digital dashboard system to monitor machinery operations nationwide.

John Deere representatives reaffirmed their commitment to the project, highlighting the progress made in terms of facility assembly and ongoing efforts to address financial challenges. They emphasized the

 importance of collaboration between the government and private sector entities to ensure the success of the mechanization initiative.