By ZBC Reporter
GOVERNMENT is set to provide new equipment to the Agricultural and Rural Development
Speaking during a tobacco field tour at Muwanga farm in Trelawney recently, Lands Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement Dr Anxious Masuka said the move seeks to guarantee food security and further empower beneficiaries of the land reform programme.
Dr Masuka also reiterated government’s plan to turn Agribank into a Landbank to make it easier for farmers to access agricultural funding support from the institution.
Government is going to give new tractors and combine harvesters’ to Arda. Under the arrangement, farmers around the Arda estates are supposed to also benefit from the equipment. We want every piece of land that was previously used for crop production to be worked on. We don’t want to hear farmers complaining that they have not able to produce because of lack of equipment as we are going to provide it through ARDA, he said.
Farmers have welcomed the move saying it will give them the capacity to reach their full potential.
This is a good move. Many of us have been producing below capacity because of the lack of agricultural implements. The transformation of Agribank into a Land Bank is critical as it has not been easy to access agricultural funding. Am sure our offer letters will now be bankable, said a farmer.
Mechanisation of the agricultural sector dovetails with government’s target of an 8 billion United States agriculture economy by 2025.
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