Ebonyi State Govt. Allocates Land To Commissioners For Compulsory Rice Production

Ebonyi State Government has revved up its agricultural programme by mapping and allocating land to the members of the Executive Council, EXCO. The event, which took place at Ezillo Government

Farm in Ishielu Local Government Area, was the first phase of Governor David Umahi’s policy to involve every segment of the society in massive rice production. The Commissioner for Agriculture
and Natural Resources, Uchenna Orji, led the team comprising Agric Extension workers and officials of IFAD to carry out the exercise on Saturday. According to a statement, yesterday, by Emma Anya, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, 140 hectares of land were allocated to the EXCO members for the cultivation of rice under the Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society Ltd in line with IFAD requirement for co-operative system and CBN -anchored borrowers programme. The remaining 1,360 hectares were set aside for other co-operative socities and individuals that had already keyed into the policy through the IFAD and CBN-anchored borrowers programme. Orji, who described the agric programme of the Umahi administration as all inclusive, said tractors would be mobilised to the site immediately in line with the governor’s vision of massive rice production for commercial quantity. He added: “We do expect that through the Senior Special Assistant on rice production, Chief Itakpa Azobu, that latest by Monday, July 4, we will mobilize our tractors to come here. “It is in line with governor’s vision that we should not only go into mechanization of farming; we should go commercial. We are going to express that this 2016 farming season.” In an interview, the Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Senator Emmanuel Onwe, said it was EXCO’s decision that any individual of mature age, whether government appointee or civil servant, must cultivate at least one or two hectares of land to boost agriculture in the state.
Vanguard