The Federal Government has stated it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an American firm John Deere where the corporation would supply Nigeria with roughly 2000 tractors yearly in the next five years.
The effort according to the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari is oriented towards solving the problem of land preparation and mechanised farming across the country.
The Minister remarked that the discrepancy between overall arable land and those available for cultivation is largely attributable to the shortage of tractors for farmers
The “tractorization” issue is next, in his opinion. According to our Memorandum of Understanding with John Deere, they must provide 2,000 tractors annually for a period of five years, but they will sell those tractors through finance.
“And to figure out the details of how we can now offer farmers low-interest loans to purchase those tractors for those who are interested in them, we have also enlisted the Bank of Agriculture.”
Beyond the terms of the agreement with the business, the Minister clarified, the federal government is also investigating measures to guarantee that farmers who cannot buy the tractors can hire them through the “green imperative program.
“He mentioned that Deutsche Bank is funding a $1 billion project that will create service centers throughout all 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the nation. These centers will allow farmers to rent tractors and obtain other agro-related services.
The Minister claims that Brazil has successfully implemented the scheme.