THE Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has commenced the distribution of Liquid Organic Fertilizer and Soil Conditioner in Edo State with a promise to sustain its collaboration with farmers in the Niger Delta for enhanced food security and food sufficiency in the region. The Member Representing Edo State in the Board of the NDDC, Mr Saturday Idehen Uwuilekhue who stated this while kicking off the project in Benin City Wednesday, said “the program was part of NDDC commitments to mitigate the socio-economic difficulties in the Niger Delta Region”, stressing that the distribution of Liquid Organic fertilizer and Soil Conditioner was an innovation to boost Food production and Cash Crops in Edo State.
Uwuilekhue stated that the programme which was flagged off in Uyo recently by the Managing Director of the Commission, Dr. Nsima Ekere, as a special farmers empowerment program, was another milestone in the NDDC’s link with the grassroots, maintaining that beneficiaries were drawn from the eighteen Local Government Areas across Edo state. “The first phase of this program has about 100 farmers, including the members of the Edo State branch of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) and Youths and Women Groups who are involved in agricultural activities. The second phase comes up next week for about the same number of farmers”. He congratulated the beneficiaries and advised them to make the best use of the products while promising more programs for the state especially in the Agric Sector in line with the Federal government’s new policy on agriculture geared towards making the nation self sufficient in the production of food crops. In her remarks, the Director, Edo State Office of the NDDC, Dr. Akwagaga Lelegima Enyia, said “NDDC was passionate towards the Development of the Niger Delta Region and Edo state in particular as demonstrated through the provision of rural infrastructures, including roads construction, provisions of educational facilities, and Agricultural Entrepreneurial Training programs.” She urged the beneficiaries of the products to strictly follow instructions in their usage as they are new, admonishing them to keep in touch with the Directorate of Agriculture and Fisheries in the state Office of the NDDC to forestall any hiccups. Briefing beneficiaries on the new Organic liquid fertilizer and its usage, the Assistant Director Agric and Fisheries, Community and Rural Development (A&F/CRD), Mr Olumide Epebinu, said the suitability of Agric- Zyme inputs on the fertility of the soil can not be overemphasized, stressing “the products boost the nutrients intake of crop roots, environmentally friendly, increase yield by 48- 80 percent, have no harmful effects on the plants , enhance yield per harvest and profit generation and restore damaged soils”.
:VANGUARD
