As part of efforts to increase food production and reduce inflation in the state, Oyo Governor ‘Seyi Makinde has announced the suspension of revenue collection on farm produce for the next six months within the state.
The governor also announced some other subsidy measures to lower the high cost of food items prices in the state.
Governor Seyi Makinde made this disclosure during a special food stakeholders meeting held with relevant stakeholders at the Fashola Farms Estate in Oyo West Local on Wednesday.
In their various remarks, some stakeholders present at the program identified farmers’ herders’ problem, high cost of herbicide, unavailability of tractors for bush clearing and ploughing, insecurity, among others, as the major challenges facing farmers in the state. They also charged Governor Makinde to liberalize the conditions for obtaining agricultural loans from the state government.
In his address, State Governor ‘Seyi Makinde reeled out various interventions his administration had embarked on to cushion the effect of subsidy removal through the Sustainable Action for Economic Recovery (SAfER) initiative. He announced some other measures to stimulate the high cost of farm produce in the state.
Among the top strategies to stimulate the high cost of food items in the state as announced by Governor Seyi Makinde were the liberalization of the conditions to acquire the state Agric Loan from the Agricultural Credit Corporation of Oyo State (ACCOS) by farmers. The state government shall release a sum of six hundred million Naira to ACCOS for farmers to clear a hectare of land at a subsidized rate of 15 thousand Naira, noting that the six hundred million shall be able to clear 120,000 hectares of land when fully initiated.
