In his determination to complement Governor Seyi Makinde’s efforts in ensuring food security by making Oyo State the food basket of the nation, Hon. Sheriff Adeojo, the Executive Chairman of Ido Local Government has engaged stakeholders on agriculture and agribusiness in his local government by partnering with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the Nigerian Institute of Horticulture (NIHORT) to train farmers on modern methods of farming.
This was as he said that agribusiness has been identified as one key areas his administration is prioritizing as one of it’s mainstays in order to be able to create employment opportunities for the teaming youths through agricultural value chain while increasing food production in the local government and the state at large.
Adeojo disclosed this in his welcome address at a one day interactive session with farmers and other stakeholders in Ido LG on agribusiness at the Local Government Secretariat, on Thursday in order to cart a new path for the development of agriculture and agribusiness in the Local Government.
Commending the efforts of Governor Seyi Makinde, on his administration’s commitment towards youths empowerment and employment generation, Adeojo explained that he is also very particular on ensuring the commercialization of Vitamin A maize for health and economic benefits in the fight against malnutrition.
According to a release signed and made available to journalists by Alh. Kunle Kareem, Head of Information of the Council, Hon. Adeojo stated that, “my administration is leaving no stone unturned to ensure food security and make food available at affordable prices. To this effect we are in partnership with NIHORT, a federal government agric research institute and IITA to improve the capacity of our farmers”.
“Recently I received and assured trainees on State Government’s Youth Entrepreneurship in Agribusiness Project (YEAP) that adequate land for immediate cultivation will be made available to start their agribusiness.
“I wish to greatly commend Engr. Seyi Makinde for involving youths in modern system of farming through YEAP in Nasarawa state. This morning our farmers visited a demonstration plot at Akufo where farmers were taken to for sightseeing about the newly introduced Vitamin A maize to fight malnutrition in our communities.” Adeojo said.
The Council boss added that the reason for focusing the capacity building and interaction with farmers on the Vitamin A maize is to increase production of the maize with the view to curbing malnutrition in Ido local government having identified the maize as one of the crops with very high content of Vitamin A.
“We are actually here today to introduce the Vitamin A maize to our farmers and our young agribusiness entrepreneurs who just graduated from the State Government’s Youths Entrepreneurship in Agribusiness Project in Nasarawa state because it is a great opportunity for them and for us at the local government to use their acquired skills to boost agriculture and agribusiness in our local government.
In his remarks, the Oyo State Coordinator of Cassava Growers Association, Mr. Adesiyan Bashir, commended Governor Makinde and the Council Chairman, Adeojo, for the opportunity given to farmers to learn new farming methods in order to increase food production in the state.
Highlight of the event was the presentation of new farming methods and how to grow crops using newly introduced liquid zero-chemical fertilizer in order to record bumper harvest without damaging soil nutrients ahead of another planting season while commending Makinde and Adeojo for providing adequate security for farmers especially in Ido LG.
Other speakers and stakeholders who spoke at the event all lauded Governor Makinde and Hon. Adeojo for their deliberate efforts and investments in the agricultural sector with the aim of ensuring food security while meaningfully engaging the youths on agribusiness and modern ways of farming.
Shortly after the interactive session, Hon. Adeojo distributed cutlasses, shovels and rainboots to all farmers present at the programme.
Present at the event are the Head of Local Government Administration, Pastor Olumuyiwa Laoye; Director of Agric, Mr. Christopher Kolade and other top council officials. Others are representatives from IITA, NIHORT, and secondary students from selected schools.
