The President of Igbajo Development Association (IDA), Mr. Sola Fanawopo, has urged the Federal Government to optimise technology via mechanised farming to achieve its proposed 500,000 hectares farmland policy, reports ITREALMS.
He also noted that the presidency recent disclosure that 500,000 hectares of land have already been mapped to increase the availability of arable land for farming, with subsequent declaration of a state of emergency on food security in Nigeria, said that the idea is long overdue but not late.
Igbajo as agricultural community, Fanawop said, has enormous strength in the cultivation of peppers, tomatoes and similar vegetables and is eager to receive federal assistance in the area of food processing and preservation to take its production of the crop to a new level.
According to him, key to agricultural breakthrough in contemporary Nigerian community is for the government to fund and mechanize these operations.
"Thankfully, they are a once-and-for-all operation and the effect will be immediate. It will transform the land by making it available for full mechanization of all agricultural operations from seeding to harvesting. With tree stumps, roots, and stones present on the ground, the use of most agricultural equipment is simply impossible.
“Here is the critical area where the Federal Government should focus its intervention for a drastic agricultural revolution in Nigeria.
Fanawopo pointed out that the Igbajo community, noted for the commercial cultivation of peppers is ready to contribute lands for the Federal Government intervention to boost farming in the community.
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