Osun Distributes Oil Palm Seedlings To Farmers

Osun State government has distributed 15,000 free hybrid oil palm seedlings to farmers in Ijebu-Jesa in Oriade Local Government Area of Osun State.
Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Mr. Wale Adedoyin, reiterated the commitment of the government to the provision of food through the fulfillment of its Six-Point Integral Action Plan, three of which is aimed at addressing agriculture and food security.
He said that it is the belief of the government that the institutionalized strategy put in place through the Osun Rural Enterprise and Agriculture Programme (O-REAP) is targeted at food sufficiency in the state.
Adedoyin at the programme which was facilitated by the Executive Secretary, Oriade Local Government, Taiwo Fatiregun, charged farmers in the state to make proper use of the various government supports on agricultural farm inputs.
He said that opportunities abound for free crops for 2014 planting season, such as the distribution of 500,000 cocoa seedlings free to cocoa farmers, sale of 25,000 cashew seedlings at N50.00 per seedling and the sale of 64,000 hybrid oil palm seedling at N100.00 each.
The commissioner added that the loan facility provided to cocoa farmers, the sales of agro-chemical at 50 per cent subsidy to farmers and the distribution of kola nut and bitter kola seedlings free of charge to farmers are all done to make the state secure in terms of food production.
In his address, the organizer of the event, who is also the Executive Secretary, Oriade Local Government Council, Taiwo Fatiregun, thanked all the invited guests and urged the farmers to make proper use of the hybrid oil palm seedlings so that the council will become a hub of food production in the State of Osun.
He then appreciated the state Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, for creating the enabling environment for the executive secretaries in the state to contribute their quota to move the state forward.
The Secretary, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Oriade Local Government Chapter, Alhaji Sule Aresa, on behalf of his colleagues, expressed his appreciation to the state government for the good gesture and advised farmers to reciprocate the kind gesture by making proper use of the various agricultural support which the administration of Ogbeni Aregbesola has extended to farmers in the state to ensure food sufficiency for the teeming citizens of the state.
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