The Ondo State Government on Sunday said it had provided discounted agricultural inputs as palliatives to farmers as part of measures to ensure food security in the state. Mr Akin Olotu, the Senior Special Assistant to Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu on Agribusiness, said this to newsmen in Akure. He said that the government also had put in place various interventions to cushion the effects of COVID-19 among farmers in the state . Olotu said the palliative (discount) was structured such that 30 per cent discount was given to interested farmers on inputs they purchased. He, however, said that maize farmers were given inputs for free on the directives of the governor. Olotu said that if farmers were not assisted speedily from the havoc wreaked on Agriculture and Agribusinesses by the coronavirus ...
Oyo State governor, Mr Seyi Makinde, has identified the imperativeness of tweaking the curriculum of secondary schools towards the teaching of agriculture as a business. Makinde made this call at the launch of Start Them Early Programme (STEP) in Oyo State and the inauguration of STEP Agribusiness Facility at Fasola Grammar School, Oyo, on Thursday. He noted that such teaching of agriculture as a business right from primary and secondary schools will enable people to, from young ages, possess practical entrepreneurial training and knowledge of modern agriculture practice. Speaking further, he stressed that the teaching of agribusiness, from the cradle, will help diversify the typical picture in the minds of young people of an older man or woman back bent, tilling the soil with a hoe or att...
The Director-General of National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC), Dr Philip Ojo has said that Nigeria has about 81,000 metric tons of seeds during this COVID-19 lockdown period. Dr Ojo who said this during a Webinar press conference with journalists noted that the seeds would ensure that agricultural activities were not disrupted as a result of the lockdown imposed across the country as a result of the outbreak of COVID-19. He said efforts were being made by the Council and relevant agencies to ensure that seeds reach the farmers in the grassroots amid the COVID-19 lockdown. “The National Agricultural Seeds Council is doing all within reach to ensure that seed sector-related activities are sustained and promoted even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic for Nigeria to be able to have a c...