The Cross River State Commissioner for Commerce, Mrs Abigail Duke, has identified Obubra LGA as a well endowed Community with arable land suitable for the cultivation of rice, maize, cassava and yam.
Duke stated this at the 2023 Apiapum New Yam Festivals, held at Apiapum, in Obubra LGA, C’River Central Senatorial District South South Nigeria.
In company with her counterpart, Commissioner for Women Affairs, Hon. Edema Irom, Mrs Duke said her ministry is ready to harness this great potentials to improve on the living conditions of the rural dwellers and transform the state through export of the produce.
She used the occasion to announce plans by Government to commercialize agriculture in the state calling on more women and youth to key into the agricultural revolution plans of Governor Otu.
Addressing the mammoth crowd of women, Commissioner for Women Affairs, Hon. Edema Irom, said “Sen Bassey Edet Otu placed high premium on agriculture with the introduction of high breed seedlings and tubers that will bring better yields, reduce harvest time and give women more money.”
While she emphasized that the state will use agriculture as one of its spring board to empower women as part of deliberate measure to alleviate poverty in the state, Iron added, “Of course once a woman is empowered, the household will be touched for better and more decent livelihood.”
According to her, “Government will leverage on platforms like this and other social gathering of women to educate them on the need to venture into active agriculture and empower them with improved seedlings and tubers for maximum economic gains.”
On the significance of the annual festival Irom said, “the event is a wake up call to the fact that as we celebrate today, we will go back to till the farm again after this season because if don’t take that deliberate step to go back, there will be no celebration next year.”
“This gathering also reminds us that the yam which is the king of all crops should not go into extinction but rather be given prominent place as one of the widely used stable food in Nigeria and Africa at large,”she said.
Truth Live News gathered that Irom however, went further to advise the women in the state to form themselves into cooperative so as to enable them access government funded facility for increased yield.
The clan head of Apiapum, His Royal Highness, Ovarr Robert Mbina Ajom lll, who urged the state government to assist the subsistent farmers with modern farm implements as well as improved seedlings and tubers for better yields for the next farming season, thanked everyone who came to grace the occasion and the organizers for a successful host.
While appealing for farming inputs, the monarch said “Let me also use this opportunity to appeal to the government to make other farming input like fertilizer, pesticide readily available at affordable rate to assist our farmers for a better harvest next farming season.”