By Awyetu Asabe Hope
The Akwa Ibom State Government says it will soon inaugurate an Agricultural Equipment Leasing Company to promote large-scale mechanised farming across the state.
Governor Umo Eno disclosed this on Thursday while speaking with Government House correspondents after inspecting ongoing work at the company’s facility located at Ekpri Nsukara in Uyo.
In a statement from the Government House Press Unit on Friday, the governor commended the contractor for the progress recorded at the project site, noting that the initiative is designed to support farmers with modern farming equipment at subsidised rates.
According to him, the equipment, which include ploughs, harvesters and other farm implements, will be leased to farmers across the state to boost productivity and encourage large-scale farming.
Eno explained that the initiative forms part of his administration’s broader strategy to mechanise agriculture, increase crop production and improve farmers’ incomes.
Speaking on the government’s tree-crop revolution programme, the governor said the initiative would begin with the onset of the rainy season to ensure better growth.
He added that a nursery for palm seedlings had already been established, while farmers across the state had been enumerated ahead of the distribution of seedlings.
The governor said the seedlings would be distributed to farmers within the next two weeks for planting across the state.
Eno urged farmers to take advantage of the government’s agricultural programmes to expand production and contribute to the state’s economic growth.
