From Yakubu Busari, Jos
Bako
The Chairman Tractor Owners and Operator Association of Nigeria, Plateau State branch Mr Kenneth Tsemba Bako has appealed to the governments in the country to assist farmers with more funding and good policies.
Bako who is also State Chairman of Nigerian Farmers Association disclosed that funding would also assist peasant farmers to upgrade to mechanised system of farming in the country, adding that the method would reduce poverty and unemployment by attracting more hands and kicking off an agriculture value chain.
Bako, younger brother to Governor Simon Lalong and rice and maize farmer, made the appeal the appeal in an interview with journalists during the Plateau Day celebration at the on going “Jos Trade Fair” holding at Polo Field in Jos, the capital.
He said the though the state was endowed with abundant mineral deposits many rural farmers were yet to benefit from the Bank of Industry, BoI, loan said to have been set aside to cushion the high cost of acquiring farming tools to boost the agricultural sector.
He said even those who carry on with the situation would need to be connected to international markets where they can sell their produce at competitive prices rather than at give away prices as they are currently doing
Bako however commended the federal and the state government for providing farmers in the state with tractors and other farm implements to enhance their productivity.
Expressing gratitude to the Federal and State governments for assisting the farmers’ association under the Anchor Borrower’s Scheme, he called on government to provide the youths with soft loans and modern farming equipment that can aid them to start modern farming business.
“Agriculture is the first among other things that enhances the development of the state, without it, the nation may not be anywhere,” said Bako, who was at the trade fair to survey what his association was showcasing.
