Benue
State Governor, Samuel Ortom, has called on Nigerians to grip agriculture as a
reliable alternative in the face of falling oil prices.
He made
the call while flagging off this year's rice harvesting season at one of his
farms in his village near Gbajimba, Guma Local Government Area.
He
urged the people to embark on dry season farming using irrigation, positing
that the state government has entered into partnership with the International
Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) to support farmers with massive land
clearing farm equipment and other inputs for mechanized farming.
He
said: "With the dwindling oil prices, Nigerians must consider agriculture
as a veritable alternative. We in Benue have already taken the initiative. I
have told all members of the state executive council to individually encourage
farming activities in their communities. Throughout the year, we can do farming
here. We have two rivers - Benue and Katsina-Ala Rivers; so sourcing water to
irrigate crops is not a problem”.
On
the peace prevailing in the area, Governor Ortom said when he assumed office,
he moved quickly to dialogue with stakeholders as well as farmers and herdsmen;
a development he said led to the cessation of hostilities between the warring
sides.
He
said he had also initiated meetings with his counterparts in Nasarawa and
Taraba states on ways of ending frequent clashes in the border communities.
Regarding
speculated flooding in the country, the Governor said the state government was
worried about the possibility of a re-occurrence of the flood that caused havoc
on our people so we acted swiftly and averted a repeat of the 2012 disaster.
He
requested for assistance from the Federal Government and international
organizations to be able to sustain the efforts so far made by his Government.
Governor
Ortom took part in the harvest of rice on his farm which covers about 150
hectares after visiting his large soyabean farm earlier.
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