Farmers in Oyo State, under the aegis of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), recently received farm equipment from the Federal Government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, to further boost their productivity.

The equipment are: rice transplanters, water pumps, multi-purpose threshers, drip irrigation kits with tanks, solar panels and maize peelers.

The Chairman of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in the state, Mr. John Olateru, who supervised the distribution of the equipment at the state secretariat of the association in Ibadan, said it is the first time the real farmers are getting farm implements directly from the federal government.

He said Nigeria is now going towards achieving greatness as the benefits of the farmers can now get to them without much stress. According to him, over the years the equipment have been stored in warehouses across the country, but it has always been difficult for the real farmers to get them in their various localities.

He said: “this is the first time the real farmers are getting the direct benefit of having access to the farm implements and equipment without stress. It is not that we don’t have those things in our warehouses in states across the country but the cumbersome process in accessing them makes it difficult to get them to the real farmers.

“Before now, we had to write through the Director of Agriculture in the Federal ministry in the state and follow it up by going to Abuja. We may need to spend days in Abuja, which could affect our farms, but now they channel it to us through the minister. We have received them and we are sharing them to our members in the state.” Nigerian Tribune