Farmers census: Abia ranks first in South East

 Announcing the out-come of the 2013 data capturing of farmers in the country at an award presentation to Governor Theodore Orji as the Chief Farmer of Abia State, and the unveiling of distribution of free cocoa seedlings to registered cocoa farmers in the state, the Minister for Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, said the feat was […]

 Announcing the out-come of the 2013 data capturing of farmers in the country at an award presentation to Governor Theodore Orji as the Chief Farmer of Abia State, and the unveiling of distribution of free cocoa seedlings to registered cocoa farmers in the state, the Minister for Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, said the feat was made possible by the governor’s agricultural revolution in the state.
Represented by the South East Regional Director in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Uche Nwafor, the minister noted, “again, in this year’s maize/rice/fertilizer GES roll out, a total of over 125,000 farmers were registered in the state. This is the highest figure recorded among the five states in the region.”
 According to the minister, the state not only has the best cocoa farmer in the country, Chief David Onyewaku, “but is also the highest cocoa producing state in the South East region.
 “It is also on record that Governor Orji sponsored the distribution of pro-vitamin A cassava cuttings to farmers as a way of boosting their agricultural potentials as well as improving their dietary component,” he said.
In his remarks, Governor Orji described the free distribution of improved cocoa seedlings to farmers in the state as a, “fulfilment of our resolve to refocus the economic fortunes of our state on agriculture so that we not only eradicate poverty in our state but proceed to create rural wealth through agriculture.”