No fewer than 2,078 Small Holder Farmers (SHFs) have received Irrigation Equipment and Assets from the Edo State government .
Stephen Idehenre, the state commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, flagged off the distribution of the equipment on Friday to the benefiting farmers in Benin.
Idehenre said that the effort was part of Nigeria’s COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES).
He said the facilities were jointly funded by the World Bank, the federal and Edo state governments and distributed under the FADAMA Edo CARES window.
He said the distribution of the irrigation equipment and agricultural assets was geared towards supporting irrigation and all-round farming in the state.
The commissioner also disclosed that a total of 1,832 farmers had earlier benefited from the same programme in the state.
Idehenre said 14 persons were empowered with Solar Irrigation Pump, 436 persons were given 218 pumps while some poultry farmers from Oredo, Egor, Ikpoba Okha and Uhunmwonde local governments benefitted from feather-picking machines.
Earlier, Edward Izevbigie, Edo State Coordinator of FADAMA project, who congratulated the beneficiaries, however, urged them to make use of the facilities to improve on their farming activities as well as their financial well being.
In an interview, some of the beneficiaries, including Kanabe Ahmed, tomato farmer, and John Imohimi, a poultry farmer, commended the federal and state governments for the empowerment.
They declared that the equipment would go a long way in boosting the productivity of their farms and assured that they will use the equipment judiciously. (NAN)