Over 2,000 farmers benefit from interest free loan in A’Ibom

Akpan Umoh, Uyo

No fewer than 2000 farmers in Akwa Ibom have benefitted from interest free loan to ensure food sufficiency in the state.

The Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Glory Edet, said this in an interview with newsmen in Uyo on Monday.

According to her, the state government has disbursed more than N1.2 billion as interest free loans to more than 2,000 cassava farmers in the last two years.

She explained that the efforts of the state government have curbed the monopoly of market unions in the pricing of foodstuffs in the state to bring down prices.

“In the area of cultivation, we have been encouraging farmers with interest free loan. We have disbursed over N1.2 billon to about 2, 000 farmers across the state.

“N250, 000 were disbursed per hectare and depending on the hectares, some benefitted to a tune of N1, 000, 000 to cultivated cassava farming.

“We also gave them free improved varieties of cassava cuttings, and this has boosted food production in the state,” Edet said.

Edet added that the state government has also established Cassava Processing Mills across the state to ensure that cassava was cultivated and processed.

She said that the state government has commenced selling garri at subsidised rate to help break the monopoly of market unions.

The agric commissioner noted that market unions were charging traders between N300, 000 and N500, 000 to be admitted and because of that they increased the price of the commodity they sell to recover their money.

Edet said that the initiative was not limited to increased cassava production, adding that 1, 000 each of maize and vegetable farmers also benefitted from interest free loan.

She added that government also distributed 700, 000 cocoa seedlings to cocoa farmers and boosted livestock farmers with improved breeds of goats and other animals.

The commissioner said that apart from food crops, the state government has also ventured into ginger planting and oil palm planting.

She said that school farms have been resuscitated in the secondary schools across the state to train the young ones on farming in the early stage.

“Akwa Ibom is blessed with a good soil and Gov. Udom Emmanuel has passion for Agriculture by making it key in his eight-point agenda and he believes that through agriculture we can reduce poverty, feed well and stabilise the economy,” she said.