Leadership (Abuja)
1 September 2008
The Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, Dr Abba Ruma, is in Nebraska, U.S., to explore new farming technology to boost food production in Nigeria.
The North America Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ruma is leading a delegation of his ministry's officials and the Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture and Water Resources, Sen. Tawa Wada.
At a meeting with the Governor of Nebraska, Dave Heinemen, at the weekend, Ruma said he was in the U.S., to work towards transforming the farming system in Nigeria.
He said Nigeria would achieve this by harnessing the expertise and irrigation technology for intensive crop production all-year-round in the U.S.
Ruma added that the objective was part of the Federal Government's seven-point agenda, which aims to ensure sustainable access, availability and affordability of quality food to all Nigerians.
He said: "The goal is to significantly improve Nigeria's agricultural productivity and expand it.
"It is also to improve on large-scale production using the centre pivot irrigation system and other high-tech engineering solutions in use in Nebraska."
Ruma revealed that the Federal Government was working to achieve food security and stability through policies and programmes.
He said the programmes included the promotion of Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) in the agricultural sector.
He said that to ensure its realisation, the ministry was partnering with the private sector to support and provide incentives to Nigerian farmers.
Ruma urged entrepreneurs and companies, which specialise in agricultural equipment and implements, to invest in Nigeria.
According to the minister, the intervention would assist to fully modernise Nigeria's farming system and better the fortunes of farmers.
Responding, Nebraska's governor expressed the readiness of state to co-operate with Nigeria in agricultural investments.
Heinemen said that Nebraska was an agricultural state with experience and expertise in center pivot irrigation systems.
He said that the Nigerian government could tap on to the systems to achieve its objectives.
He added that the irrigation systems, invented and popularised by Nebraska, had revolutionised farming in the U.S.
The governor honoured Ruma with an Honorary Citizenship of Nebraska and presented him with a proclamation.
The minister and his team also held meetings with officials of Nebraska Department of Agriculture and some agricultural equipment manufacturing companies.
(NAN)
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Leadership. 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.
