The lawmaker representing Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Iwajowa/Kajola federal constituency, Hon. Shina Peller has provided farming equipment to residents of his constituent in an empowerment program tagged “boosting Oke Ogun Economy Through Mechanized Farming”.
The event which was attended by hundreds of residents fully masked up was held at the Technical College, Iseyin, on Friday afternoon.
The beneficiaries of the empowerment, numbering 1500, were presented with equipment like weeding machine, farm grass cutters, fertilizer applicators, harvesting machines, seed planters and electronic knapsack sprayers to aid their farming businesses.
Speaking at the event, Hon. Peller explained that the empowerment program became necessary following after an assessment and analysis of the great injuries the scourge of COVID-19 has done to the economy of the country.
“It is on this note that I have concluded that the time is now for us to retrace our step and diversify the economy of our nation from mono-economy (oil-driven) to a more reliable and more sustainable agricultural economy which tends to revamp our economy and guarantee food security for all and sundry.
“Oke-Ogun is an agrarian region with great agricultural potentials that can help contribute immensely to the economic growth of not only Oke Ogun and Oyo State, but Nigeria at large,” he said.
He explained that to achieve economic growth through farming, agricultural mechanization is very crucial, as it helps tasks in farm production to be completed at a minimal time and enables greater areas to be farmed to produce greater quantities of crops or farm produce as the case may be.
He added that the empowerment programme will help to enhance land productivity, facilitate timeliness and quality of cultivation; reduce the burden of labour shortages in farming and alleviate poverty.
Earlier in his welcome address, the state coordinator, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Ogunwale Joseph, lauded Hon. Peller for his decision to embark on the empowerment programme.
He noted that the panacea to achieving an increase in production yield per hectare, and minimal pest infestation lies in the use of quality agricultural equipment.
He also explained that “the Federal Government of Nigeria in its efforts at ensuring the goals of food security and economic diversification, partnered and mandated the Federal Honourables to take up the challenges of empowering their constituents in agiculture as part of their Constituency Project.
“By so doing the problem of unavailability of fertilizer, agrochemicals and seed will be reduced, thereby improving the livelihood of grassroots farmers.”
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