Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Mohammad Abubakar, on Saturday urged people to venture into agriculture to improve the economy.
Abubakar made the call on the second day of his familiarisation tour of some agricultural facilities in Kaduna State.
According to him, agriculture is the best business that one can venture into as it never fails because government is always there to intervene with funding coming from within and outside the country.
He called on people to venture into agriculture and whenever there are interventions from government, people should ensure they receive the funds, utilise it and ensure they return it, that way it can be revolving and continuous.
However, he said, the agricultural sector is faced with various challenges of hoarding hence the need to change the tides.
“I have seen equipment in the stores that should have been distributed to end users instead of being laid fallow and left to decay.
“We cannot let situations like this continue to happen because we do not want to hurt anybody. These people benefiting from hoarding equipment and agricultural inputs are hurting a lot of farmers and the economy of the country.
“So am not afraid to do what is right and we will do what is right to change some of the narratives of hoarding agricultural inputs while showing the people that government is doing its best to improve the lives of Nigerians.
“I am undergoing this familiarization tour to ensure that the agric sector performs its best as agriculture is the back bone of any country’s economy so we are going to collaborate with all stakeholders to ensure we get the best.”
The minister visited the Bank of Agriculture Limited, Federal Cooperative College, National Fertilzer Development Centre, and the National Soil and Water Testing Centre.
The minister visited the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development store house, School of pest control and the ministry’s Northwest Zonal office.
