Ekiti State government has assured investors in the agricultural sector in the country of its readiness to allocate farmlands for cultivation across the 16 local government areas of the state.

The Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Folorunso Olabode, gave the assurance in his office in Ado-Ekiti while receiving a group of investors, Agrocola, who were in the state to seek for farmlands for rice and maize cultivations.

Olabode, who said that the primary concern of the Fayemi government was to build the state economy around agriculture, added that the administration was focusing on how to make farmers thrive for sustainable growth. The commissioner disclosed that the state is working to create a nexus between the Agricultural Cargo Airport located in Ado-Ekiti and the Agricultural Processing Zone of Ekiti North senatorial district for ease of products marketing.

He said that the state has a 100,000-ton capacity silo for grains storage, adding that government would provide other necessary incentives for the promotion and development of agriculture in the state.

While warning the investors against acquiring the land without use for the purpose it was meant for, the Commissioner said that the governor was relating with the Central Bank of Nigeria on an anchor borrower programme to financially support farmers.

In his remarks, the permanent secretary in the ministry, Mr Adedapo Akinola, advised the team to consider the distance between the farm settlement allocated to them and the location of the participants so as not to jeopardise the success of the project.

Earlier, the leader of Agrocola team, who is the General Secretary, Mrs Linda Ahaneku, said that they were in the state to support and encourage youths’ participation in agriculture.

She disclosed that Agrocola would recruit about 100 youths who have passion for farming, train them, give them land and incentives.

She said that Agrocola’s programme is thriving in Kebbi, Niger and some Northern states currently, saying that the organisation wants to have a pilot project in Ekiti, with a target of over 10,000 hectares of farmland that would engage over 10,000 youths in the subsequent years.

SOURCE: TRIBUNE