The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has distributed N150 million worth agricultural inputs to farmers in the capital city affected by flooding and erosion to rebuild their lost investments.
Christian Ohaa, FCT Permanent Secretary while flagging off the distribution Tuesday in Kuje Area Council said farm inputs such as Rice, Cowpea, Cashew, Teak and Oil palm seedlings have been procured while the FCTA would also distribute poultry inputs such as chicks and feeds to the farmers.
Ohaa said, the encouraging feedback from the various Area Councils on the 2018 intervention informed the decision of the FCTA not only to approve the continuity of the programme but also expand the scope of coverage of the intervention from the initial three Area Councils of Abaji, Kwali and Kuje to all the six (6) Area Councils of the FCT.
While acknowledging the fact that erosion and flooding are natural phenomenon, the Permanent Secretary said, “findings have showed that farmers have engaged in activities without recourse to proper environmental assessment.
“Let me also emphasize at this point that there is the need for farmers to observe some basic practices that can help to minimize the effect of flooding especially those on river banks in order to avoid any form of construction that will impede the flow of water.
“These include planting of cover crops such as legumes or vertiva grasses and allowing crop residues to remain on the soil instead of removing them after harvest.
“I will like to commend the Extension workers of the FCT for their efforts in stepping down training to rural farmers on the adoption of Good Agricultural Practices particularly as it relates to flood and erosion control in farmlands. Their efforts have paid off as the incidences in this regard have been reduced”.
Olufemi Folarin, Chairman Implementation Committee of the Sensitization and Distribution of Agricultural Inputs in the FCT, had said, to ensure the success of the programme, a team of Extension workers as well as Agricultural Field Engineers were deployed to the affected areas and others that are prone to flooding to share their expertise on preventing flooding of farmlands.
“Some of the farm inputs that were distributed last year, particularly the tree seedlings which are of improved variety have started growing and it is our hope that they will help to reduce the force of water flow thereby minimizing damage to farms”, Folarin added.
