Ekiti State Government has commenced the restructuring of farm settlements as part of efforts to promote efficient utilization of land resources and dignity in farming with the provision of basic social needs and ultimately boost food security in the State.
The State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Mr. Ebenezer Boluwade who made this known in Ado Ekiti, said that the existing two farm settlements and five farm centers would be bolstered with clustered farming that would be established in several communities across the State.
Mr. Boluwade added that the focus is to provide employment and income for school leavers, arrest the wave of rural migration to the towns, increase agricultural productivity, demonstrate modern techniques of farming and solve the land tenure problem which was said to be a constraint on Agricultural development.
Boluwade explained that Government would partner the private sector in restructuring the scheme to optimize the land through the inclusivity model with legacy farmers and youths adding that the new arrangement would help farmers scale up their productivity.
The Commissioner assured that the new procedure would also boost security, increase resource availability and strategic resource as well as significantly reduce cost of production.
He said that Government would also ensure that farm owners and labourers are properly enumerated and profiled with their National Identity Numbers (NIN) while Geographic Information System (GIS) would, in addition, be deployed to eliminate the risk of harbouring unlawful informants and criminals at the farms.
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Boluwade highlighted other interventions of the State Government to include clearing of land without burden for cluster farming free of charge, 50% subsidy on ploughing and harrowing of maximum of five hectares (5Ha) per farmer, facilitation of availability of tractors for rentage at affordable rates and layering of different strata of security apparatus to ensure safe and secured farming environment.
Explaining the concept of cluster farming, Boluwade said that it creates real profit by merging several smallholder farms, noting that the model was conceived to reinforce the existing farm settlements and centers in order to adequately cover the entire State.
According to him, “clearing will be carried out on identified land by the State Government free of charge. The State is bearing the cost because it is very expensive. Ordinarily, clearing one hectare would cost between 1.5 and 1.6 million Naira, so it is difficult for an average farmer to do. Government is therefore clearing free of charge but we don’t want to clear land that people will not use.
“It will be a total waste of money. That is why we ask interested people to do an expression of interest after identifying unburdened land in their communities. It is totally demand driven and the target is to open up land where people want to farm”