The Lagos State Government has urged farmers not to relent in their efforts at food sufficiency for the nation’s teeming populace.
Prince Gbolabo Lawal, the Commissioner for Agriculture, said this on Tuesday in Lagos while commemorating the World Food Day, which comes up on Wednesday, Oct. 16, at the Ejigbo Local Government Council Development Area (LCDA).
The government had hosted farmers to an interactive session on issues affecting them and their production.
Lawal urged the farmers to secure the future by making nutritious farm produce available to the people.
He advised the farmers to reflect on the theme of the 2019 World Food Day, “Our Action Our Future: Healthy Diets for a Zero Hunger World”.
The commissioner was represented at the event by the General Manager Agric Land Holdings Authority, Mr Adeyimika Omirin,
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Olayiwole Onasanya, explained that Gov. Sanwo-Olu was committed to the course of farmers by subsidising the price of fertiliser within the range of N5,000 and N7,000.
“By next year, Agric Resource Centre will be established in different parts of the state, one of which will be in Ejigbo Local Council Development Area (LCDA),” Onasanya said in a statement by Kunle Oladele, the Head of Media, at the Ejigbo Local Government Council Development Area and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Also, Mrs Aramide Ganzalo, Director, Agric Business Department, said markets would be created for farmers on Sunday alone.
“The Eko City Farmers Market will start on land allocated to farmers at Ejigbo,” she said.
The Executive Chairman of the Ejigbo LCDA, Alhaji Monsurudeen Bello pledged the council’s continuous support for farmers.
“Farmers are kings, and we will continue to support you, these farmers’ market will be a profitable venture, that will be beneficial to all and sundry,” he said in the statement.
The statement said that the forum was organised yearly between stakeholders and government to get feedback from the farmers.
The forum also offers the government the opportunity to initiate new projects that would be implemented for agriculture in the following year.
The forum was organised in conjunction with the Lagos State Government and All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN).
NAN reports that some farmers at the occasion agitated for the reduction in the price of equipment, and for support for youths interested in farming with modern technology to make farming easy.