By George Edomwonyi
The Otaru of Auchi, Alhaji Aliru H. Momoh, has donated 5,000 hectares of land as part of the effort of Auchi community to support the federal government’s agricultural revolution.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the hectares of land were meant for crops such as groundnut, maize, cassava and other economic crops.
“We have allocated some hectares of land to the Federal Government for the planting of cashew, cassava, maize and groundnut, and we are expecting them to come and inspect the land,’’ said Momoh.
Besides, the monarch disclosed that the community had disbursed N5 million to some women farmers to engage in petty trade due to attacks on them by herdsmen.
“Because of the Fulani herdsmen issue, we gave out some money to farmers to ease them off from the threat of Fulani herdsmen who threaten them in the farm,” he said.
The traditional ruler assured residents that the traditional council was already working with security agencies, including the local vigilance group and hunters, to arrest the situation and make the farms safe for cultivation.
He advised people in his domain to embrace agriculture for economic self-reliance and boost food production in the country.
Momoh said that no fewer than 200 women farmers in the Kingdom have been encouraged to key into the Federal Government agricultural revolution policy towards achieving national food security. The Otaru said the zeal by the women from an agrarian community was to boost food production and ensure food security within the locality.
He said the traditional council had enjoined all the 25 village heads in the kingdom to encourage their wards towards going back to agriculture.
“We are asking everybody to start planting groundnut; Auchi has a product which is groundnut, and we are now saying everybody should go and grow groundnut.
“Even my wife has her own farm, by virtue of that policy, we encourage the women to farm and trade,” he said.
The Otaru assured that the traditional council had created the enabling environment conducive for investment in agriculture in the communities.
The traditional ruler assured residents that the traditional council was already working with security agencies, including the local vigilance group and hunters, to arrest the situation and make the farms safe for cultivation.
