BENIN CITY – The Edo State Government has said it will provide support to farmers in the state to cultivate rice, maize, soya beans and cassava on 10,000 hectares of farmland across the state, as part of commitment to boost food security and create wealth for farmers.

Special Adviser to the Governor on Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security Programme, Joe Okogie, said this during an interview with journalists in Benin City.

He reassured that the state government will in the 2020 farming season, support farmers across the three senatorial districts.

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Okogie noted that the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration has continually assisted farmers to go into commercial-scale farming so as to fortify the industrial base in the state, noting, “What we have done is to assist farmers to convert from subsistence to commercial agriculture. The farmers are happy about this development. We have also improved the food security programme in the state. We were able to harvest over 200 metric tons of rice paddy in the last year.

The governor’ aide added that the state government will continue to provide enabling environment to encourage private investors to participate in the state’s agriculture sector, adding, “What we intend to do is provide the enabling environment that will enable private investors come to the state to set up their business.

“We are hoping to attract other investors who will come to build a mill a capacity to undertake the rice paddy we are producing. The only integrated mill we have is agro-tech in Ugboha, a private sector-led initiative. We will continue to encourage farmers in the state to keep producing.”