By Benjamin Nworie in Abakaliki
The federal government has procured agricultural implements worth N643.5 million for farmers in the South-east zone.
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Agricultural Colleges and Institutions, Hon. Linus Okorie, disclosed this during an inspection of some of the equipment at the Regional Office of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Enugu.
Okorie, representing Ohaozara/Onicha/Ivo federal constituency, noted that the House Committee under his chairmanship was determined to ensure that federal government’s policies on food security were actualised.
The machines packed at the ministry’s office in Abakaliki and its regional office in Enugu include five tractors, 10 units of palm oil processing plant, Hammer mill used in yam, banana and plantain processing, 11 units of cassava processing plants, hydrolic presser, cashew processor and electric kettle.
He noted that apart from the machines which were aimed at stepping up agricultural produce value chain businesses in the South-east, the committee had also sent a new crop called Jatrufa to the area.
The South-east Regional Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Nnamdi Ibezim, commended the lawmaker for ensuring that the machines were delivered and assured him that they would be equitably distributed.
Details later…
