Ekiti farmers benefit from State loans

Description:

The Ekiti State Government under the administration of Governor Segun Oni have recently introduced the Peasant Farmers Programme.

At the launch and presentation ceremony in Ado-Ekiti, cheques totalling 50 million naira were presented to 250 farmers from the 177 wards in the state.

The loan of N200,000 for each farmer is at an interest free rate over a period of four years.

The programme is designed to help benefitting farmers to cultivate a minimum of two hectares of annual and perennial crops during the farming season.

Governor Oni urged the farmers in receipt of the loans to make judicious use of the loans and ensure prompt repayment during the stipulated time to enable other farmers to have access to the funds the following year.

The Governor further revealed that his administration’s target is to ensure that 2000 hectares of farmland across the state is cultivated with crops within a period of four years.

Crops expected to be cultivated, harvested and to yield revenue include cocoa, kolanuts, oil palm, cashew nuts, coffee, corn, yam, cassava and cocoyam.

He added that the State government would write of the loans of ten farmers with the highest turnover of the 250 benefitting farmers. This initiative was put in place to encourage the farmers to deliver.