LASG is planning vast agricultural production – Farmers

Speaking to Daily Trust in Ekpe, the largest single farming community in Lagos State, a major vegetable farmer in the area, Alhaji Musa Suru, said Lagos State Government is paying attention to agriculture with a view to going into large scale agricultural activities.He said: “The North is leading in agricultural production because almost every northerner […]

Speaking to Daily Trust in Ekpe, the largest single farming community in Lagos State, a major vegetable farmer in the area, Alhaji Musa Suru, said Lagos State Government is paying attention to agriculture with a view to going into large scale agricultural activities.
He said: “The North is leading in agricultural production because almost every northerner is a farmer. But as a government, I am not aware of any state government in Nigeria that is planning so big for agricultural production like Lagos State. The state government is acquiring large expanse of farmlands in other states for large scale agriculture.
“Despite the congestion in the state, when you look at the large scale farming activities going on here at Okpe and Badagry road, starting from the Lagos State University (LASU), you will know that the people of Lagos State and those of us residing here have taken farming seriously. That is largely as a result of the support and encouragement coming from the state government.”
Commenting, Lagos State Chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Otunba Femi Oke, a major cassava farmer and processor, said 150 hectares of land was recently released to the state government at Ibudu axis of Ibbe in the state for allocation to farmers for enhanced agricultural production, adding: “The governor also empowered 2,000 farmers recently when he gave them incentives like fertilizers and many other farm inputs.
“We are really seeing more encouragement from the state government. What Lagos State Government is trying to do is to reduce the state’s reliance on the foodstuffs that are coming from the other parts of the country by producing our own locally.
“There is no doubt, if necessary measures are taking it will be possible because we have 18 million people in Lagos State and the farmers within the axis of Badagry and Okpe are over five to six million people. So far, we are doing well. We have land even in the riverside area. If the state government can encourage us by giving us access to loan, as we are not getting enough incentives from the government, we’ll be happy.
“They are trying for the youth that are trying to embark on agriculture. If government can increase its support and assistance to farmers in the state, it is possible to reduce the reliance of the state on the foodstuffs coming from other parts of the country. We have people that are willing to farm but they need support.”
He lamented the inability of farmers in the state to access any loan from the state government, saying: “At federal level, the farmers of commodities like rice and cassava get loans. They are now ready to give loans through Bank of Agriculture. The Cassava Farmers Association has signed MoU with the bank. We have been informed now that our farmers can go to the Bank of Agriculture and collect loan.”