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FG boosts agric mechanization with N3.6b

By on February 22, 2014

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture has released N3.6 Billion as an intervention scheme towards financing the establishment of the Agricultural Equipment Hiring Enterprise meant to encourage poor level of Nigeria agricultural mechanization.

“The funds in the first phase will make available 400 units of tractors, 500 power tillers, and various harvest and post harvest equipment to set up 80 centres, while phase II will achieve similar results. Phase III will acquire 250 tractors through the partnership programme.

This was disclosed recently by the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina represented by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Ibukun Odusote, at a one day Interactive Session on Mechanisation Intervention Programme’ recently.

The session had commercial banks’ executives, Bank of Industry, Tractors Owners and Operators Association of Nigeria, Vendors, Manufacturers’ representatives, farmers’ associations, and others in attendance.
Adesina told the gathering that the government will not be on the driver’s seat in implementing the mechanisation policy as it had set in motion a policy framework called, ‘The Private Sector Driven Agricultural Mechanization Framework’.

He said that government has vowed to industrialise the sector and attract investors through the private sector that will be at the vanguard of the mechanisation process of the sector, which the government did in eliminating corruption in the fertilisation sub-sector through Growth Enhancement Support.

The minister said the Growth Enhancement Support, GES, has been expanded beyond seeds and fertilizers, to provide mechanization subsidy to assist Nigerian farmers access mechanization services from the equipment centres scattered across the country, where they will receive their mechanization support as electronic vouchers on their mobile phones.

According to him for 2014 farming season, N1billon has been approved for GES on Mechanization. Farmers will only pay 50 per cent of the cost of off-taking services from the centres while the Mechanization GES will cover the other 50 per cent balance.

“We must aggressively privatize the commercialization of agricultural machinery in Nigeria, and for it to be sustainable; Private sector must play this lead role. The New Mechanization Policy is a Public Private Partnership, PPP, involving Government, Financial Institutions, Agro-Machinery Vendors/Manufacturers’ Representative, Service Provider Operators (SPOs).

“The short term projection of the scheme through the partnership is to make available a minimum of 6,000 units of tractors and power tillers each and also about 13,000 units of various harvest and post harvest equipment to set up a minimum of 1,200 Agricultural Equipment Hiring Enterprise, AEHE, to render Mechanization Support Services to our farmers.
“This is Federal Government’s target, complimentary efforts from States and Local Government Areas will see us achieving far much higher than we have projected,” Adesina stated.

 

 

[Vanguard]