Ondo to set up fertiliser plants
From Julius Alabi, Akure
OVER 20,000 unemployed youths in Ondo State will be engaged soon as the state government has concluded plans to establish organic fertiliser plants in the area.
The plants will be set up in Akure and some other identified areas in the state.
Special Adviser to the state Governor on Poverty Alleviation and Agriculture, Prof. Adeduro Adegeye, who made this known while speaking with journalists in Akure, the state capital, at the weekend said within the next six months, the plants would be put in place.
According to him, the state executive council has deliberated on the project, saying that some experts from the University of Ibadan have visited the state for physical assessment.
He stated that the government is seriously deliberating on converting all the garbage in the state to organic fertilisers, adding that the estimate for each plant could be higher through the purchase of standby generators and tractors.
Adegeye noted that the organic plants would have a three-fold function of employing youths for running the plants, clearing of the environment rubbish as raw materials for the plants and the manufacture of organic fertiliser for the state's agricultural programme.
"I want to say that experience has shown that organic fertiliser is better than the imported NPK fertiliser and it is more suitable for the farming system in this area which will not have any adverse effect on our farmers", he said.
He noted that government has put in place infrastructure for private investors who may wish to invest in the state. "We do all these things to woo investors to the state as we are desperately in need of private sector to participate in developing the state", Adegeye said.
The special adviser said that with the establishment of organic plant, the state would be able to produce enough scale of sugar, cassava and rice for local consumption and export.
He said government is planning to disburse about N400 million loan to farmers in the state, adding that about N150 million has been disbursed as micro-credit loan.
Adegeye revealed that a sum of N20 million has been released to the state by National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) for onward distribution to the 500 people who have been trained in skill acquisition programme in the state.
