*Senator Abubakar Kyari, Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, affirms the Federal Government has taken delivery of 255 tractors, besides giving out 1,200 trailers to farmers, explaining the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu鈥檚 administration efforts through its Renewed Hope Agenda, are geared towards reducing food inflation, increasing food production, and reducing foreign currency expenditure

Gbenga Kayode | 绿帽献妻

As part of its efforts at ensuring increased agricultural production to assure food security, the Federal Government of Nigeria has taken delivery of 255 tractors out of the 2,000 it contracted to a private firm about a year ago for onward distribution to farmers across the country.

绿帽献妻 reports Senator Abubakar Kyari, Honourable Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, confirmed this development Tuesday, January 14, 2025, while addressing reporters in the State House, Abuja, FCT.

Senator Abubakar Kyari, Honourable Minister for Agriculture and Food Security

The Minister, who discussed the Nigerian Government鈥檚 measures to curb food inflation also said that the government had activated a plan for the reorganisation and recapitalisation of the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) that is slated for completion before the end of the First Quarter (Q1) 2025.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported that Nigeria鈥檚 headline inflation rate as of December 2024 increased to 34.80 percent form 34.60 percent recorded November last year.

The NBS, in its December 2024 Headline Inflation Rate, also attributed the increase to the festive period increases in demand for goods and services in the West African country.

Senator Kyari further explained the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu鈥檚 administration efforts through its Renewed Hope Agenda are geared towards reducing food inflation, increasing food production and reducing foreign currency expenditure.

The 255 tractors that have arrived are contained in 85 containers with each having three tractors, said he.

Aside from these tractors, the Minister revealed government would also distribute 1,200 trailers to farmers as the Federal Government is still expecting 9,000 sets of spare parts that come with the procurement.

Details of agricultural equipment for deployment

Shedding more light on the number of tractors delivered to the government thus far, Kyari stated: 鈥淵esterday, (Monday, January 13), I think while some of the members were with me, we had to call the agents, and they have told us that they have 85 containers that have arrived, and they are coming almost on weekly basis.

鈥淪o, if you interpolate, every container takes about three tractors, so do the calculations. So we鈥檙e looking at about 200 and something, tractors that have arrived.鈥�

The Minister further noted: 鈥淏ut the commitment is not how much we have now, when are you going to give us the 2,000 with all the 9,000 implements? Because there will be 9,000 implements. We are looking at 2,000 tractors.

鈥淭hat tractor in itself cannot do anything, but we have for every tractor, there is a plough. So we have 2000 ploughs. Every tractor there鈥檚 a harrow, there will be 2000 harrows.:

He also explained: 鈥淓very tractor will have a seeder, which is a planter. Then we鈥檒l also have boom sprayer, which is 2000.

鈥淭hen, in addition, we have trailers, but the trailers, instead of 2,000 will be 1,200. The reason why it is like that was because we still have around鈥� trailers are not something that spoil easily.

鈥淲e have some that NASENI (National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure) has started rehabilitating. So, they will be put together as part of every tractor will have for those exercises.鈥�

鈥淚n addition, we also have 9000 sets of spare parts that will come with this particular procurement. Then we also have 10 combined harvesters of 330 horsepower.鈥�

Kyari stated: 鈥淭hese are huge combined harvesters that will be able to do about one-and-a-half hectares per hour. So, if you just imagine, in one day, you鈥檒l be able to do nothing less than 10 hectares.

鈥淭en hectares is like 13 football fields. So you could just imagine, in one day to harvest a cornfield in just one harvester.

鈥淪o we also have service vehicles, about 12 service vehicles that will come, it鈥檚 a mobile workshop with all the items that will be there that will be placed in all these areas that we鈥檙e going to have, those tractors.鈥�

In regard to the recapitalisation of Bank of Agriculture, the Minister restated that the process would be completed before the end of Q1 2025, to support funding of smallholder farming activities.

The recapitalisation of the bank, which has been on for years, was seen as the panacea for inadequate funding of commercial agriculture, as statistical evidence showed that the highest commercial bank loan the sector had between 2014 and 2021, was N1.04 trillion, in 2020, which was only 5.15 percent of the total commercial bank loan, in seven years.

According to Kyari, the BoA with about 109 branches yet has the potential to support funding for the agricultural sector of the Nigerian economy.

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