18 CO-OPERATIVES RECEIVE N.6 BILLION AGRIC LOAN

As a measure towards boosting agriculture and food production in the state, the Bayelsa State Government has disbursed over N.6 billion as loans to 18 cooperative groups under the Root and Tuber Expansion Programme.

Speaking at the disbursement and presentation of cheques ceremony at the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) headquarters, Swali-Yenagoa, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Abel Ziniye, said government was committed to the promotion of agricultural activities in the state. Ziniye assured that government would re-vitalize the dwindling national economy by encouraging public-private sector initiative in agriculture.

According to him, the revamping of the agricultural sector would empower farmers and other large scale entrepreneurs to produce, process and market agricultural produce for consumption and industrial needs.

Ziniye noted that because of the importance government had attached to agriculture, the state government had paid N177 million as counterpart funding towards the tripartite funded programmes in agriculture such as the Root and Tuber Expansion Programme for Food Security (RTEP),the Fadama Development Programme and the community- based National Resources Management Programme.

The commissioner urged the benefiting farmers to make maximum use of the opportunity to increase the hectares of their farms to produce sufficient food for the state.

In his welcome address, the programme manager of the ADP, Mr. Francis Alagoa, noted that the overall objective of the RTEP was to achieve sustainable increase in root and tuber crops such as cassava, yam, cocoyam and sweet potatoes as well as their end products.

Alagoa said that the programme would also support activities bothering on agro-processing and marketing of the end products of root and tuber and appealed to the beneficiaries of the loan to justify the investment of the state government in the project.

Also speaking, the programme manager of RTEP, Alhaji Jimoh explained that the idea behind the RTEP was to generate federal and state governments' interest in supporting farmers for the production of root and tuber crops.

Responding on behalf of the beneficiaries, Mrs. Asoye Igwe expressed appreciation to the state ADP for its commitment towards the development of agriculture in the state, adding that the farmers were encouraged by the gesture.