Janet Adikpo & Sola Olatoye
28 November 2004
TIME was when Ondo State was one of the leading lights in agriculture in the nation. Indeed, the state was synonymous with the production of cocoa, timber and other cash crops.
And the government of those days viewed the sector with all the seriousness it deserved. Expectedly, the state became renowned for its agricultural exploits. However, with the oil boom, agriculture, which formed the bedrock of the state's economy, was relegated. Not helping matters, successive administrations in the state merely put in place measures that were, at best, half-hearted which were often not consolidated upon.
Yet, for the state, this was a sector that provides employment opportunity for over 60 per cent of the people of the state. Indeed, it is a known fact that agriculture, apart from the monthly federal allocation, remains the highest contributor to the internally generated revenue (IGR) of Ondo State.
Commenting on the state of the sector when this administration came into office in May last year, the state Commissioner for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forest Resources, Mr. Ayo Ifayefunmi painted a pathetic picture of the situation of things. The Ministry of Agriculture, he disclosed, was virtually dead as no running grant was released to it for over a year while activities that were supposed to boost the sector were at a standstill.
Thus, on assumption of duty, the Dr.Olusegun Agagu-led administration, the commissioner said, decided to redress this situation and bring back the lost glory of the state by setting up a committee on agriculture. Saddled with the responsibility of looking into the problems militating against agricultural production in the state, this committee was also to proffer concrete solutions to them.
Among the problems identified were inadequate farm mechanization equipment, high cost of agricultural inputs and agro-chemicals, depleting farming population, neglects of the fisheries and livestock sub-sectors among others. These problems were equally fingered as being responsible for low production output both in food and tree crops, low income to farmers and increases number of impoverished farmers.
Thus, to alleviate these problems, the Agagu administration, according to Ifayefunmi, embarked on aggressive programmes aimed at enhancing the development of this all-important sector through increased food and tree crops production. Some of these include the Youth-in-Agriculture programme, Tree Crops Development programme, Farm Mechanization programme, Lowland Rice Development programme, Aquaculture and Livestock Development programmes,
Specifically, the commissioner revealed that in order to improve the yield of agricultural produce, this administration had, in the last one year, procured and distributed a total of 2,880 metric tonnes of assorted fertilizers, 1,500 litres of herbicides, 120 metric tonnes of Ridomil, and other assorted chemicals and hardware at a total sum of N17.4 million.
Aside, to boost mechanized farming, the state government, he noted, bought 24 tractors compared with 8 procured throughout the tenure of the last administration. Eighteen of these tractors had been distributed to all the 18 local governments for the use of farmers in all the areas for land preparation.
To encourage the youths to participate in agriculture, an innovative programme tagged: Youth-in-Agriculture was flagged off on May 25, this year. Perhaps, for cocoa farmers, the raising and distribution to farmers free of charge of over 500,000 hybrid seedlings for the rehabilitation of old farms as well as the establishment of new ones by the Agagu administration was, indeed, heartwarming. This, according to government was to ensure the state's leading position in cocoa production in Nigeria.
Indeed, the state governor, Dr. Olusegun Agagu in the 2005 budget speech which he read before the state legislators on November 15, this year, disclosed that the sector was given a large chunk in the budget, an amount which he disclosed was well over 250 per cent than that expended on the sector this year. And, as a way of consolidating the state's lofty position in the production of cocoa, the governor said that an additional 1.5 million cocoa and 150,000 oil palm seedlings would be raised and sold to farmers at highly subsidized rates next year.
Also, in order to arrest the decline in the yield of cocoa, the administration has embarked on hand pollination of old cocoa trees to revolutionize cocoa production in the state.
The governor added that his administration, in collaboration with Nigeria Agip Oil Company had concluded arrangement for the establishment of a hatchery with capacity to produced one million fingerlings annually in the riverine area of the state. Expectedly, farmers are happy about these renewed efforts at resuscitating the agricultural sector.
Pa Titus Atandele, a farmer in Idanre, said the efforts of the Agagu government in resuscitating the state's once flourishing cocoa plantations was very commendable and should be sustained. Specifically, the septuagenarian said that when he applied for some of the hybrid coca seedlings being given to cocoa farmers free of charge early in the year, he never believed he would be given. "But I was given 200 of the improved seedlings along with many cocoa farmers these are doing well on my farm already and I am looking forward to buying more next planting season to replenish the aging trees on my farm," he said.
For Wale Iluyomade, a native of Akure who participated in the Youth in Agriculture programme, the effort of the Dr. Olusegun Agagu-led administration was a step in the right direction. For Anthony Ayenuwa, a fish farmer from Mahin in Ilaje local government area of the state, the provision of outboard engine for him to enhance his fishing business at highly subsidized rate by the Agagu administration has launched him and scores of his colleagues on the path of economic prosperity. He was equally full of praises for the government for encouraging the development of fish pen and cage culture as well as the proposed establishment of a hatchery with capacity to produced one million fingerlings annually in the riverine area of the state
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2004 Vanguard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
