Benue farmers get N100m cassava production input.

As part of efforts to grow annual food production in the country, over N100 million worth of input have been distributed free to selected Benue farmers to boost cassava production in the state. 

Among items distributed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, Value Chain Development Programme, VCDP, to the benefiting farming groups were bags of fertilizers, herbicides among others. Flagging off the presentations at Ogbadibo, Okpokwu and Guma Local Government areas, Benue IFAD-VCDP State Project Coordinator, Mr. Emmanuel Igbaukum said each of the benefiting farmers will receive two litres of herbicides from the organisation at no cost. 

He said aside the contribution of his organisation to boost cassava cultivation in the state, each of the 2,500 benefiting farmers, through their cluster groups, would also receive same quantity of counterpart support from the state government. In his speech, Benue State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. James Anbua, cautioned the benefiting farmers against diverting the input, warning that the state government would not hesitate to take punitive measures against defaulters.