NCAM donates tools to farmers in Niger state

From Yakubu Mustapha Minna

The National Center for Agricultural Mechanization Ilorin has donated sets of modern agricultural tools to farmers’ co-operative societies in Niger state to increase their farm yields and boost farmer’s economic base.
The farming tool which includes rice reaper and multi crops thrashers manufactured by the agency were designed locally to ease the difficulties of rice and other crops processing during and after cultivation among the large farming communities in Niger State.
Speaking during the handing over of the implements to some representatives of various farmer groups in the state, the Managing Director of the Niger State Agricultural Mechanization Development Authority NAMDA, Engineer Sadiq Ibrahim said the donation was to encourage rural farming activities and interested large scale farming across the state.
Engineer Ibrahim who appreciated the gesture by the National Center of Agricultural Mechanization for choosing Niger state among the beneficiaries of its technological achievements.
He, however, said the state government would liaise and persuade farmers and other cooperative societies on the need to urgently adopt mechanise method of farming for rapid agricultural development in the state.
The representative of the National Center for agricultural Mechanization Ilorin, Engineer Jackson Babajide during the handing over said the new agricultural implements manufactured by the agency is designed to encouraged peasant and large scale farmers in the country and other west African States to adopt modern ways of farming by easy accessibility of acquiring the modern farming tools locally.
He stressed that the agency has already concluded plans to discourage the Importation of some agricultural tools into the country by fabricating and manufacturing locally.
Engineer Babajide further said that the machines manufactured and fabricated by the center are designed to withstand environmental hardship and could be maintain locally without any difficulty.
“Based on our remarkable achievement in the field of agricultural technology, the agency decided to embarked on visiting the six geo political zones in Nigeria thereby showcase some of our works for interested farmers throughout the country and to be reproduced based on demand.”