The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, on<\/p>\n
Monday flagged of the Governor David Umahi administration’s one-man,
\none hectare agricultural programme in the state.<\/p>\n
The ocassion which was witnessed by the Minister of Health,Prof.Isaac
\nAdawele, was kick started with the planting of palm trees at Ezillo Farm
\nand a symbolic tree of peace at Ishielu Local Government Area
\nheadquarters. The symbolic tree was to commemorate a peace agreement
\nbetween Ezillo and Ezza-Ezillo.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the Abakaliki Township Stadium where thousands of women and
\nyouths had gathered to witness the grand finale of events, Ogbeh
\npledged Federal Government’s support to Ebonyi State in its agricultural
\nprogramme.<\/p>\n
He said, “We are going to bring machinery here. We hope that before we
\nround up,there will be a major industrial starch plant in this state. We
\nalso believe that we will let you have some cassava flour processing
\nplants,especially for cassava, fufu ,very nice food to eat.We shall bring
\nyou another crop,cashew nut, because the demand for cashew nut in the
\ninternational market is high. You are famous for rice production,but you
\nare going to be more famous when we bring our programme for
\nimplementation.<\/p>\n
“Today, I assure you that we shall join hands with you to make your rice
\nproduction plan work. We shall make sure you get the best
\nseed,especially,the F.44. It is about the national standard we have
\nbecause in Nigeria today,there are over 70 varieties of rice. We cannot
\ngrow all.”<\/p>\n
The minister, who also promised to bring rice harvesters and threshers to
\nEbonyi State,commended Governor Umahi for the robust agricultural
\nprogramme,especially the one-man, one-hectare policy.<\/p>\n
Challenging politicians and civil servants to have a second address in
\nagriculyure, he said that poverty in the country was not acceptable.<\/p>\n
He explained that there was hunger in the country today because Nigerians
\nhad been lazy in the past by focussing on oil and importation of
\neverything, including toothpicks.<\/p>\n
“What your governor is doing is going to be strongly supported by us. We
\nshall support you with good seeds. And before the year runs out,before the
\nrice harvest,we shall bring in small machines to help you harvest your
\nrice. And for those of you civil servants,politicians and so on going to
\nagriculture,please,take it a business seriously,” a statement by Umahi’s
\nChief Press Secretary Emma Anya quoted the minister as saying.<\/p>\n
Ogbeh, who in company with Umahi, later gave out a symbolic cheque to one
\nof the beneficiaries of the state’s youth and women empowerment programme,
\ntold the youth that the governor, had by his actions “handed over the key
\nto prosperity” to them.
\nUmahi had in his opening remarks explained that the agricultural programme
\nwas aimed at ensuring food security for the state and the country. He
\nsaid his administration had among others, procured 40
\ntractors,distributed farm seedlings and gotten soft loans for genuine
\nfarmers in the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, on Monday flagged of the Governor David Umahi administration’s one-man, one hectare agricultural programme in the state. The ocassion which…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n