BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
Igbajo community in Osun State has embraced the Federal Government’s agriculture revolution policy geared at cultivating 500 hectares of farmland to tackle food shortage in the country.
The presidency recently disclosed that 500,000 hectares of land have already been mapped to increase the availability of arable land for farming, having declared a state of emergency on food security in Nigeria.
The directive was said to be in line with the President Bola Tinubu administration’s position on ensuring that the most vulnerable are supported.
While applauding the gesture of the Federal Government, Sola Fanawopo, the President of the Igbajo Development Association, noted that the idea is long overdue but not late.
The agricultural community in Igbajo has enormous strength in the cultivation of peppers, tomatoes and similar vegetables and is eager to receive Federal Government’s assistance in the area of food processing and preservation to take its production of the crop to a new level.
According to him, the most expensive farm operation in Igbajoland is land preparation.
“Realistic land preparation involves the removal of the cover bushes, the removal of tree stumps as well as the removal of stones from the land. Igbajo farmers stop at the removal of bushes using the ancient, manual slash-and-burn methods.
“However, the key to agricultural breakthrough in our community is for the government to fund and mechanize these operations. Thankfully, they are a once-and-for-all operation and the effect will be immediate. It will transform the land by making it available for full mechanization of all agricultural operations from seeding to harvesting.
“With tree stumps, roots, and stones present on the ground, the use of most agricultural equipment is simply impossible. Here is the critical area where the Federal Government should focus its intervention for a drastic agricultural revolution in Nigeria,” he said.
Fanawopo noted that the commercial cultivation of peppers is ready to contribute lands for the Federal Government intervention to boost farming in the community.
