By UNAH Emmanuel.
I’LL MAXIMISE FARMING OF ALL MAJOR CROPS IN YALA-DR OKEM.
ELDER, Dr Fred Okem, the Chairman of Yala Local Government Area has restated his commitment to the agricultural growth of the local government by maximising the cultivation of all major crops in the area.
Dr Okem made the commitment on Friday while flagging- off the 2025 Town Hall Meeting and Capacity Building of Rice Farmers in the state which held at the University of Cross River State, Ogoja campus.
He said Yala has fertile ground for many crops to grow and as a farmer himself he would devote time, energy and resources to support the people to grow major crops that would boost their economy and financial status.
” I am a rice , live stock, yam.and cotton farmer and the whole Yala Local Government Area has a conducive farming environment for most major crops to thrive. I will, during my tenure propagate and maximise the farming of all major crops to boost the economy and financial position of my people”.
The Chairman declared that he would launch the 2025 farming season in the month of April to showcase all the crops that do well in.Yala for people to take advantage of and cultivate with support from the local government.
“in the meeting with the Commissioner for Agriculture recently, Yala was selected to be among the local government areas where coffee will be cultivated and we shall make sure coffee does well”.
He thanked the Governor, His Excellency Senator, Apostle ,Prince Edet Otu for the foresight and commitment to agriculture which is the mainstay of the economy of ninety percent of the people of the state.
“I thank the Governor for the rice inputs which have made many people harvest many bags of rice some up to 100 kg and others 80 kg . There should also be effort to help us combat insects that cause disaster by destroying rice farms and other crops with the right herbicides”.
Mr Emmanuel Anor, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Rice Development said Yala has vast arable land suitable for the cultivation of rice and the town hall.meeting is to sensitive all rice farmers in Northern and central Cross River on how to gains access to the financial facility from Zenith Bank and other inputs.
“The governor, His Excellency, Senator Edet Otu has given directives that we should create green millionaires through rice farming and that means rice farming should be done as business . First thing when you wake up,.get there and attend to the farm with all the energy you have and make a success out of it”
Mr Anor said all the local government areas in central and northern Cross River have arable land suitable for rice farming and declared that the 5th of December has been earmarked for the celebration of rice festival where the green millionaires would showcase the benefits of rice farming.