Osun Community Urges FG To Fund Mechanised Farming

 

Yusuf Oketola

THE Igbajo Community in Boluwaduro local government of Osun State has called on the Federal Government to fund and mechanise farming operations as part of measures to tackle food shortage across the country.

President Bola Tinubu recently disclosed that 500,000 hectares of land had already been mapped to increase the availability of arable land for farming, having declared a state of emergency on food security in Nigeria.

The President of Igbajo Development Association, Mr. Sola Fanawopo, in a statement last weekend, said the community was eager to receive federal assistance in the area of food processing and preservation in order to take its production of crops to a new level.

Fanawopo said the key to agricultural breakthrough in Igbajo community is for the government to fund and mechanise farming operations to ease the stress of the farmer and enhance commercial agriculture. 

He said: “Realistic land preparation involves the removal of the cover bushes, the removal of tree stumps as well as the removal of stones from the land. Igbajo farmers stop at the removal of bushes using the ancient, manual slash-and-burn methods.

“However, the key to agricultural breakthrough in our community is for the government to fund and mechanise these operations. Thankfully, they are a once-and-for-all operation and the effect will be immediate.

“It will transform the land by making it available for full mechanisation of all agricultural operations from seeding to harvesting. With tree stumps, roots, and stones present on the ground, the use of most agricultural equipment is simply impossible.”

Fanawopo also advised the federal government to focus its intervention on revolutionalising agriculture in the country.