Abuja — Benue State, since inception in 1976 has been envisioned to produce enough food that could feed the Nigerian populace as well as meet the export needs of the country.

The founding fathers of the state aptly captured this vision when they nicknamed Benue, FOOD BASKET. Why? The State is blessed with fertile land and clement weather condition favourable to optimal production of both cash and food crops. Secondly, the state is lavishly blessed with human resources that can provide the requisite man power for both mechanised and manual labour driven farming.

Aside these, Benue being the gateway to the South South and South East, enjoys elongated rainfall that aids plants growth. In dry seasons, farmers in the state resort to the numerous lakes, ponds, rivers, especially River Benue to irrigate their crops.

Truly, the Governor Aper Aku administration tried to mobilise the citizenry towards mass agricultural production. The era witnessed huge harvests in yams, Cassava, Soya beans, Cowpea, Maize, Guinea Corn, Millet, Groundnut, banana, mangoes, oranges, to mention but a few were recorded. These successes prompted the Aku Government to establish several Rice Mills, Soya Beans Industry, Fertilizer Blending Plant, Fruits Industry and other agro-allied industries. These industries were set up close to the localities where the raw materials could be easily sourced.

But some of them couldn't take off before the military took power in December, 1983. Sadly too, the Aku vision died with the collapse of the third republic. And since then, successive military governments in the state, to say the least did not tap from the pool of agricultural potentials in the state. The military boys budgeted little or nothing for Agriculture. Fertilizer distribution became politicized. Their priority was regime building nothing more, nothing less. No thanks to the many years of military intervention in politics.

The attitude of government more than ever before encouraged rural-urban drift. Benue indigenes moved in droves to Abuja in search of greener pastures. The young people who could not make it to the Federal Capital City made a career out of politics or political thuggery and in some extreme cases, prostitution and armed robbery!

This foisted food crisis on the state. We saw the food basket become virtually empty. And the state that hitherto had surplus food fell short of its mandate of providing the food needs of the country. The ugly trend persisted until the return to Democracy. Much is being achieved by the Benue State Government led by Hon. Gabriel Suswam. The governor seems to be building on the efforts of Aku and Governor George Akume, his predecessors to fully explore the potentials of the state in the Agricultural sector.

On assumption of office, the Suswam administration took Agriculture as an article of faith. It embarked on distribution of fertilizers to all the 23 local government areas at subsidized rates. To avoid the problem of middle men who usually hijack the essential product, government decided to distribute fertilizers directly to the concerned farmers through the various Fertilizer Distribution Committees set up in the 23 local government areas of the state. Fertilizer ware houses and grain store in Gboko, Otukpo, Zakibiam and Makurdi have been rehabilitated.

Government also took delivery of 22 Tractors and farming implements to boost food production. The total of five hundred Knapp Sack Sprayers for the control of weeds and pests bought by government are being sold to farmers to check the ravaging effects of weeds and pests on crops. A total of N25million was expended on restocking of Livestock Breeding and Investigation Centre in Raav, Benue State.

Government has started a programme of mechanisation of agriculture with the establishment of Demonstration Sites for which over 5000 hectares of land in various local governments.

Ultra modern Fish Farm has been established in Makurdi to boost production of proteins. Closely related to this is the revamping of the Akata Fishing Festival in Katsina Ala. Government constructed and equipped Quarantine Centres in Makurdi and Gboko to prevent the entrance of strange livestock diseases into the state. The state also entered into an agreement with Agriculture Extension Experts from the State of Iowa, USA for improvement in mechanization, animal and crop production, processing and training.

With these strides of government complemented by judicious implementation of agricultural policies, observers believe Benue State will assume its pride of place of being the food basket because all countries in history which attained food sufficiency rolled out some of the programs evolved by the present administration. All the government needs to do is to consistently implement the policies put in place by this administration. The citizenry too have a role to play especially in protecting Agricultural projects. Benue indigenes should be proud to veer into farming as a profession. The starting point is the next rainy season. This way, Benue in particular and Nigeria as a whole will regain its lost glory in agriculture!

Agbo is a concerned Benue son and journalist based in Wuse, Abuja.