ABUJA- THE Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has said the federal government will soon release N10 billion for cassava bread development fund and to further boost the cassava production. Adesina who was represented the Senior Technical Assistant to the minister of Agriculture, Dr. Adetunji Oredipe disclosed this in Kogi State at the Cassava GES Roll Out at Agbadu Staple Crop Processing Zone, SCPZ, in Kabba Bunu Local Government Area of the state. He explained Government established the Cassava Bread Development Fund, which would be funded through the tariff on wheat flour. He further said that the Cassava Bread Development Fund would also be used to support research and development efforts on cassava bread, training of master bakers, support for master bakers for the acquisition of new equipment for production. *African leaders share 40 percent cassava bread. The Goodwill Ambassador for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), former Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo (left); former President of Tanzania, Benjamin Mkapa (next to Obasanjo from left); Tanzania’s President, Dr Mrisho Jakaya Kikwete (dressed in red tie and holding cassava bread); and IITA Director for Eastern Africa, Dr Victor Manyong (far right); having a taste of the 40 percent cassava bread during the inauguration of IITA Science Building in Dar es Salaam Speaking on the Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES), the Minister said that the GES will allow the farmers to produce additional food because the farmers will receive their improved cuttings and fertilisers. “This year we are taking cassava GES programme to scale, we have designed different levels of support to different categoriesof farmers and we are committed to making this work. “This marks another major milestone in our drive to ensure thatthe modern cassava farmers adopt the best available agricultural practices starting with the use of improved inputs; cuttings and fertilisers. In doing this, we will ensure that our farmers, the real cassava farmers who should be the real beneficiaries of government policy are well targeted by government programme”, he said. According to Adesina, to assure sustainable supply of high quality cassava flour, a secure of low interest and long term financing from the China Exim Bank for the importation of 18 large scale high quality cassava flour processing plant was made to be owned and operate by the private sector. In his address, Commissioner for Agriculture, Kogi Sate, Dr. Olufemi Bolarin noted that the Governor of Kogi State, Idris Wada has keyed into the ATA in Agriculture by encouraging and assisting Kogi State peasant farmers in all facets of agricultural production. He said that the state government has subsidised agro chemicals, Fertilisers to the farmers to enable them participate fully in agricultural production, stressing that the state government had earmarked in all the 3 senatorial district huge area of land for agricultural activities such as cassava, maize, etc, to employ the services of the teeming youth. According to him, cassava has been discovered to play a vital role in the federal government ATA in agricultural sub-sector of the economy, adding that in agriculture, there were various sector that should be encourage and educate the youth to indulged to assist in reducing youth restiveness and unemployment such as fisheries, etc. He therefore advice the youth to take interest in agriculture, saying that the emergence of mechanised system of agriculturehas made it easy and conductive for the graduates to imbibe the culture of farming in order to be self- reliant and drastically reduce unemployment enveloping the whole world.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 04:03:28 +0000
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