Agric Min. Rolls Out Plans on Food Production in 2014

AGRIC MIN. ROLLS OUT PLANS ON FOOD PRODUCTION IN 2O14, AS FORESTRY MIN RAISES 5M TREE SEEDLINGS

 

Ogun State Ministry of Agriculture has lined up various activities meant to stimulate increased food production in the next fiscal year. The activities include cultivation of 111,960 hectares of farmlands, raising 382,500 birds, and producing of 1,000 tonnes of table fish.

 

In the same vein, the Ministry intends to raise 200,000 metric-tonnes of cocoa, 2,500 metric tonnes of cotton lint, 250,000 metric tonnes of cassava for industrial use, and procure 120 outboard engines as well as 1,000 nets and netting materials.

 

All these came from the Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs. Ronke Sokefun while justifying her Ministry’s N4.729b. 2014 budgetary estimates at the State House of Assembly.

 

Sokefun who said its implementation would be pivoted on adequate production and supply of raw materials to agro-based industries, gave the breakdown as N4b earmarked for various capital projects, N729m to take care of personnel and overhead costs under recurrent expenditure while N350m was the target revenue.

 

The Commissioner further revealed that with all these activities, the Ministry would facilitate 7,200 employment opportunities through the development of small, medium and large scales, farms and farming enterprise to be executed through public private partnership by 2016.

 

In a related development, Commissioner for Forestry, Mr. Adebayo Faari while defending the Ministry’s budget estimates before the lawmakers revealed that the Ministry planned to produce and raise N5 million tree seedlings of various species for the establishment of 2000 hectares plantation and free distribution to members of the public.

 

Faari observed that the ministry would also to regenerate and establish 2,000 hectares of indigenous wood species, Gmelina and Teak plantations through agro-forestry; Taungya and direct planting in nine forest Reserves.

 

To this end, he said the Ministry was proposing to spend the sum of N1.373b in 2014, out which N1b would be expended on capital projects, N373m on recurrent matters, while N350m is the revenue target for the year.

 

Giving details on some capital projects lined up, the Commissioner said the sum of N13m would be spent on farm development including ecotourism centres and expansion of non-timber forest programmes.