Enugu State to Provide Farm Inputs to 63,000 Farmers

The Enugu State Government will distribute farm inputs to 63,000 smallholder farmers on Tuesday. This move aims to boost agricultural production for the current farming season.

The government also approved the hiring of 4,698 new teachers for its Smart Green Schools. They also ordered all isolation centres to be activated due to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and parts of Uganda. They want to ensure they are prepared.

These updates were shared with reporters after a meeting of the State Executive Council in Enugu over the weekend.

During the briefing, the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Malachy Agbo; the Commissioner for Agriculture and Agro-Industrialisation, Patrick Ubru; the Commissioner for Education, Prof Ndubueze Mbah; and the Commissioner for Health, Prof George Ugwu, stated that the Mbah Administration will keep providing good governance even during the campaign period. They emphasized that they have a clear mandate and vision.

Patrick Ubru, the Commissioner for Agriculture, noted, "Last year, about 40,000 farmers benefited. This year, it is even bigger and better, as the state has now approved for 63,000 farmers to receive free agricultural inputs as intervention, ranging from fertilisers to agrochemicals, free rice seeds, free maize seeds, and free pepper and tomato seeds."

He added, "It is targeted at reducing the cost of agricultural production and ensuring that our smallholder farmers increase their income and improve their livelihoods."

Ubru also mentioned that only registered smallholder farmers will receive these inputs. These farmers must be identifiable, and their farms should be monitored.

"So, on Tuesday, 21st July, the governor will flag off the distribution of farm inputs. After that, the 260 wards will receive theirs under strict monitoring to ensure that only those identifiable as farmers benefit from the scheme to better their lives," Mr Ubru explained.