Cross River Govt Plans To
Establish Rural Empowerment Scheme
The Cross River State
government in Southern Nigeria says it will establish an
Agricultural and Rural Empowerment Scheme (CARES), as another
way of boosting food production
in the state.
The Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Sam
Oju, unfolded the plan
of government, while speaking with the News men in Calabar, tthe
state capital.
The commissioner explained that under the scheme, government
would establish a Land
bank for further allocation to desirable farmers in the state
under well-defined conditionality.
He said that through the scheme, farmers would be enabled to
cultivate and manage economic
``farm sizes'' from two hectares above for various crops,
ranging from tree crops to
other elite food crops.
“Empowerment”
Oju announced that the whole concept was to solve the problem of
land limitation for cultivation by farmers in every part of the
state.
He said. ``As a step towards enhancing technology transfer, we
have introduced a modern training scheme through the
establishment of a farmers field school.''
The commissioner said the establishment of the school was
designed to encourage group learning among farmers in the state
under well-trained master trainers.
NAN/MICHAEL
