Kwara seeks FG’s aid over flooding in 458 rice farms

Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State has appealed to the Federal Government to assist the state in its effort to provide relief to 458 farmers whose rice fields were flooded after heavy rains in Shonga, Edu Local Government Area of the state.
 
Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State 
The affected farms are situated on 3, 200 hectares irrigation land set aside by the Federal Government for rice cultivation in Tada-Shonga. The farms were established under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) anchor borrowers’ scheme

Ahmed, represented by Alhaji Yusuf Abdulwahab, his Chief of Staff, disclosed this while leading a delegation from the Federal Government around the flooded farms. The federal delegation included chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Water Resources, Aliyu Ahman-Patigi, representative of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Elijah Aderibigbe and Managing Director, Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority, Mr. Adeniyi Aremu.

He said the flooded rice farms are part of the state’s major flagship agricultural scheme with huge value addition and appealed to the federal government to expedite action on dyke reconstruction.


Ahman-Patigi expressed concern over the loss and advised the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to immediately come up with plans to mitigate the effect of the flood on farmers. He said the sum of N720 million was budgeted for the construction of dyke in this year’s budget to permanently secure the rice farms against flooding in future.

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