FG to distribute 900m palm seedlings to farmers

The Federal Government is set to distribute 900 million seedlings of high yielding palms to farmers in the coming weeks to boost palm oil production in the country.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh disclosed this on Monday, when the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development paid him a visit as part of its oversight functions.

He explained that currently, there was a shortage of 250,000 tons of palm oil to meet local demand, adding that the planned distribution is to meet and surpass the current shortage.

A statement by the Director (Information) of the Ministry, Tony Ohaeri, quoted the minister as saying also that the price of rice would begin to fall from November this year, as more Nigerians are responding to the call to return to agriculture, as a result of Government’s policy on importation of rice.

He emphasized that Government could not be involved in rice importation, as being speculated in some quarters, adding that his Ministry would not encourage such a thing that would be detrimental to local production.

“We will not encourage rice importation, and there is no way our Ministry or Government can be involved in importing rice, when we are working hard to be self-sufficient in local production.

By November, when full scale harvest starts, rice prices will fall”, the Minister said. Ogbeh further told the lawmakers that the late passage of this year’s budget had slowed down budget implementation, saying however that about N80 billion would soon be disbursed for already awarded capital projects.

This is even as he urged the Senators to impress it on state governors to encourage agriculture in their States to complement Federal Government’s efforts in the sector.

“You may be surprised to know that only six to seven States in Nigeria are showing enthusiasm in agriculture. Some by nature don’t seem interested, while others just can’t connect with what we are doing at the federal level”, the minister said.

(National Mirror)