‘130 hectares cultivated for sorghum production in Ogun’

The Ogun State Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (OGUNCCIMA) has said that the state has cultivated 130 hectares in Ijebu-Igbo in Ijebu North LGA for the production of sorghum.   OGUNCCIMA’s Auditor, Surveyor Olatunde Ayodele, disclosed this at a discussion on “One Local Government One Product” during a meeting of the State Committee […]

The Ogun State Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (OGUNCCIMA) has said that the state has cultivated 130 hectares in Ijebu-Igbo in Ijebu North LGA for the production of sorghum.  

OGUNCCIMA’s Auditor, Surveyor Olatunde Ayodele, disclosed this at a discussion on “One Local Government One Product” during a meeting of the State Committee on Export Meeting (SCEP) at the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Abeokuta. 

Ayodele, who is also the pioneer President of the Ijebu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (IjebuCCIMA), said More-Agro Farmers Cooperative, Ijebu-Ode, ventured into cultivation of sorghum as a result of the disruption of the produce supply chain due to the insurgency in the North East. 

He said, “Ogun State has joined the league of sorghum producing states in Nigeria as 130 hectares have been cultivated in Ijebu-Igbo. A cooperative society has also liaised with Nigeria Breweries Plc which is now committed to off-take the produce immediately after being harvested. I am imploring more farmers in the state to go into the cultivation of sorghum due to demand for the produce.’’ 

Meanwhile, in completion of the ongoing pilot phase disbursement of inputs and assets to farmers under the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES), domesticated as OGUN-CARES FADAMA RA2, farmers from the Mile 6 Farmers Community and Omu-Eleni Farmers Community Association in Odeda and Odogbolu LGAs respectively have received no fewer than 1,500 day-old broilers. 

Others got 60 bags of starter feeds, while drugs were disbursed to poultry farmers. Crop farmers also had 20 bags of fertiliser and herbicides, water pumps, sprayers and planters. 

It would be recalled that the pilot phase of the distribution of inputs and assets such as pigs, sheep, goats, fertilisers, cassava and rice processing equipment, among others, commenced in Ado-Odo/Ota, Yewa North, Ijebu North and Obafemi Owode LGAs, where groups of livestock and crop farmers and other agricultural value-chain stakeholders were empowered.

In his keynote address at the disbursement exercise in Abeokuta, Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Adeola Odedina, said OGUN-CARES FADAMA was a World Bank project facilitated by the federal government in conjunction with the Ogun State Government at providing economic incentives for over 20,000 farmers across the state to liberate them from the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Odedina, represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Dotun Sorunke, stated that the disbursement was to test run the project, noting that Governor Dapo Abiodun would soon launch the inputs and assets distribution in all the LGAs of the state, advising the beneficiaries to reciprocate the gesture by making judicious use of the items. 

Earlier in his address, the Programme Manager of OGUN-CARES FADAMA RA2, Mrs.Solape Awe, said the Prince Dapo Abiodun-led administration was passionate about smallholder farmers, especially youths and women, with the aim of turning their lots around positively, as the items given to them were good leverage, capable of reviving their dwindling farming businesses. 

Awe warned the beneficiaries not to block the chances of other farmers from benefiting from the project, by making judicious use of items given to them, imploring those in other enterprises to patiently wait for their turn.

On his part, the Chairman of Odeda LGA, Alhaja Folashade Adeyemi, commended the state government for supporting farmers at the grassroots, admonishing the beneficiaries to make ample use of the inputs and assets for themselves and others in the nearest future.

Also speaking, her counterpart in Odogbolu, Hon Shuaib Ladejobi, represented by Hon Azeez Akinwade, congratulated the beneficiaries and assured that the government would continue with the lofty initiative, warning against wastage, carelessness and selling off the items.