The Ebonyi State Government plans to survey and register all farmlands in the state to end the incidence of government taking over lands from farmers without paying compensation.
Making the plan known on Monday in Abakaliki during a state colloquium for stakeholders on ways of moving the agricultural sector forward, the state governor, Chief Dave Umahi, regretted the fate of owners who lost their land to government in the past without appropriate compensation.
“It is sad to see farmers lose their farmlands to government under such circumstances, as the farmlands are usually their only sources of income though government needs the lands to site industries and other infrastructure”, he said.
Governor Umahi suggested the formation of cooperative societies by land owners and the registration of the lands individually for use as collateral to obtain loans.
“When this is implemented, each cooperative society should have about 50 hectares of land which when surveyed, would amount to its total shareholding in a cooperative arrangement” the governor added.
Umahi stated that the state government would ensure the stoppage of the planting of three tones per hectare-yield in rice planting.
“We hope to commence this from next January, as we would ensure we bring in rice species that would yield ‘seven tones-per hectre’ and more,” he stated.
Umahi said that he has already assured President Muhammadu Buhari and the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, that Ebonyi State could provide the rice needs of Nigeria if given necessary incentives.
Speaking at the event, the Ebonyi State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources in the state, Mr Uchenna Orji, said the governor convened the colloquium to enhance agriculture in the state, especially in the area of rice production.
“The present economic reality in Nigeria has made states to use agriculture to tap their hidden potentials in the face of steady fall in oil prices,” Orji said.
The commissioner promised to ensure that no farmland in the state would lie fallow, as the ministry would seek the approval of the executive arm and that of the House of Assembly to make local government areas and development centers develop demonstration farms.
The Guest Lecturer at the colloquium, Prof. Martins Anikwe, in his paper titled, ‘Ebonyi, Tapping the Huge Potentials and Incentives in Rice Production’, said that the government could achieve its agricultural goals with improved mechanization in rice production.
Goodwill messages were delivered at the occasion by agencies such as the CBN, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and officials of tertiary institutions with emphasis on agriculture.
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