By Daniel Tyokua
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat (ARDS), said it has begun moves to revive the tractor hiring scheme to boost crop production.
Mandate Secretary (ARDS), Abubakar Ibrahim, over the weekend had an interface with the agric field engineers at the Central workshop in Gwagwalada to draw a better template on how to handle the tractor hiring plan.
A statement from the secretariat, said stringent steps are going to be taken to track the movement of tractors to ensure that they are not taken outside the FCT.
He however, expressed concerns of the Administration in floating the scheme, which he noted has not been successful in the past.
Ibrahim stated that the FCT Administration is aware of the critical role the provision of the tractors can play in boosting food production which is why it has made provisions in the 2022 budget to procure a total of twelve tractors that will be fitted with tracking devices to monitor the use and the locations so that FCT farmers would benefit from the programme.
The secretary explained that the Secretariat will be looking into the provision of other Agriculture machineries to farmers as a strategy to improve food production and guarantee food security.
He said, “FCT Administration is not only looking into the provision of the tractors but also other Agriculture machineries that will enhance productivity.
“We are equally aware of the need for maintenance which is why we will be investing in training our engineers to ensure that all our inputs and machineries are efficiently managed”.
However, Chairman of Gwagwalada Area Council, Mustapha Danze described the visit to the central workshop as an eye opener for the Council, which he promised will be keying into the initiative.
