A farmer in Rivers, Mr Godwin Akandu, has appealed for the equitable distribution of the federal government’s ‘Seed Palliative’ to cushion effect of flooding on farmers.
Akandu, the President, Etche Farmers Cooperative Union, made the call on Monday in an interview in Port Harcourt.
The president of the farmers’ Cooperative Union lauded the initiative, describing it as timely, considering the huge financial loss suffered by farmers in the state as a result of flooding
He said that if the seedlings are equitably distributed to farmer groups, it would benefit farmers preparing for the dry season farming.
Akandu, however, said that most commodity groups and farmers’ cooperatives were yet to be enrolled as beneficiaries of the federal government’s agriculture palliatives.
He alleged that even though the seeds had been received at the local government councils, but the distribution to beneficiaries had been politicised.
“Here in Rivers, ward councillors are in charge of everything that passes through the ward, so we are not expecting the seed palliatives distribution to be patterned differently.
“The councillors would definitely come up with lists of party members from their wards who may not even be farmers while the farmers who should be targeted may not be captured by their records if they are either non- partisan or members of the opposition party,” Akandu said.
Lamenting losses incurred by farmers as a result of flooding, he said members of the Union in communities like Afara, Umuebelu and others in Etche area as well as Ahoada opted for premature harvest to avoid total loss.
Akandu, therefore, called for a more reqularised approach for seed distribution by engaging the various commodity groups and farmers’ cooperatives in the process.
