The Enugu State Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Industrialization has registered no fewer than 80,240 farmers within the last 18 months in its ongoing farmers registration, the Commissioner for the Ministry, Dr Patrick Ubru, has disclosed.
Ubru told newsmen in Enugu on Friday -earlier today, January 24 – that the 80,240 farmers are duly verified with vital details such as verifiable residential and farm addresses.
He said that “the ongoing diligent registration” was the first mandate given to the ministry by Gov. Peter Mbah.
The Governor’s idea is that only genuine farmers are identified and given the necessary inputs and technical support to make agriculture a “big business in the state,” the Commissioner added.
According to Ubru, the ministry collected the registered farmers’ National Identity Numbers (NINs); cell-phone numbers; the farming cooperative society they belong to (if they belong); and the capacity of the farming they are currently involved in.
“We also classified the agricultural practices they are engaged in such as plantations of various economic crops/plants; crop farming such as tubers, cereals, vegetables and spices; exotic plant/horticulture; animal husbandry, poultry and fishery among others.
“We also registered agro-industrialists such as middlemen and women in value-chain addition; produce middle market men and women as well as produce off-takers as well.
“The ministry also sends its staff to do secret verification to locate the claimed farm or agriculture practice sites most times,” he said.
Ubru noted that the Gov. Mbah administration has effectively stopped the issue of “political farmers” with the ongoing registration, noting that previously, political farmers, with no farms or idea of farming, held sway in the state without any actual farming activities.
The commissioner lamented that the political farmers’ activities drove away the real farmers, and the support supposed to be given to them directly was diverted.
“At a time, before the emergence of Gov. Mbah, most genuine farmers lost interest in farming, as no government input and technical support was given to them.
“Today, we have real farmers and our agriculture-loving governor has increased funding in agriculture activities and food production.
“Gov. Mbah is doing this through robust farmers’ participation in state-fashioned agricultural and agro-industrialisation programmes as well as in Federal and international institutions agricultural programmes and projects.” (NAN)
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