By Roland Ike, Abakaliki
The Federal Government of Nigeria/ International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) assisted Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) is assisting 150 farmers in Ebonyi State in dry season farming.
Mr Sunday Ituma, the IFAD-VCDP State Programme Coordinator, made the disclosure during the flag-off the 2023/24 dry season farming at Odomowo, Inyimegu in Ikwo Local Government Area of the state.
Ituma said that the flag-off was one of the programme’s 2023 activities brought forward to 2024 and it afforded dignataries present to see its dry season cluster at Ikwo.
“The benefiting 150 farmers are expected to cultivate 150 hectares of land.
“IFAD-VCDP will support the benefiting groups and individuals within the groups with four bags of NPK and two bags of urea fertilizers.
“They will also be supported with two litres of herbicides (selective and non-selective) alongside capacity building in dry season farming”.
He noted that the programme has provided 10 sets of solar powered irrigation pumps to check the problems encountered to provide petrol for water pumps.
“The water pumps have been confirmed functional and we are expecting technical experts who will fabricate free-energy water pumps to draw water from the river,”
Ituma thanked the the Governor Francis Nwifuru for providing the enabling environment for IFAD to thrive especially the payment of the state government’s N100million counterpart fund in 2023.
“The total cost of IFAD-VCDP’s intervention in this dry season farming is N54 million and we would continue supporting benefiting farmers to realise desired objectives”.
Dr Fatima Aliyu, the IFAD-VCDP National Programme Coordinator expressed delight over the presence of the beneficiaries whom he described as the real people targeted by the programme.
Aliyu represented by Mr Musa Dalang said she was also impressed with the land plain which has high potential for irrigation.
“The presence of top government officials also delights me as this shows the state government’s acceptance of the programme,”
Mrs Nkechinyere Iyioku, State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, urged the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the IFAD-VCDP interventions.
“I thank the management of IFAD-VCDP in Ebonyj for implementing the agricultural policies of the governor at the grassroots.
“Ensuring that Ebonyi maintains the food basket of the nation requires hard work hard to demonstrate practical agricultural complemented with bountiful yield,”.
Mr Jude Ogodo, a Beneficiary thanked IFAD-VCDP for the interventions and pledged that they would be judiciously utilised.
Goodwill messages were delivered at the occasion by the state House of Assembly committee on agriculture, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development among others.
