Chief Audu Ogbeh, Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, launched the S.M.A.R.T Model Farm Mechanisation Project on Thursday, 10 May 2018.
The technologically driven agricultural project, which is a joint partnership between the Federal Government, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development, John Deere Africa and NAMEL Group is designed to make mechanised farming available and affordable for small-scale farmers.
At the project launch, Ogbeh disclosed the Federal Government’s intention to purchase 10,000 tractors within the next five years.
Small-scale farmers are not expected to buy the tractors, instead, they will rely on tractor service providers, who will offer services at 5 percent less than the market price. According to Ogbeh, “we want to take the financial and mechanical burden off the farmer so that he can spend as little as NGN 15, 000 on his ground tilling in a year.”
Photo credit: @AuduOgbeh- Twitter.
