Agro Company Trains Ebonyi Farmers on Mechanized Farming

From Victor Nwegede, Abakaliki

The Tractor On the Go (TOG), a subsidiary of Origin Group International in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has trained not less than 50 Ebonyi farmers on mechanised farming to stimulate agrarian productions with lesser stamina in the state.

The State Programme Coordinator, Prof Ike Ogba Elechi, during the training in Abakaliki, explained that the “Tractor On the Go is a multinational company owned by Origin Group International,” and described it as “the biggest agro company in West Africa.”

According to him, the company which ranks number 10 in Africa and number 4 in West Africa, partners with USAID to empower women, young men and other people in growing their agric-related businesses.

Prof Elechi, the Dean of the Faculty of the Management Sciences, Ebonyi State University, further disclosed that the company selected Ebonyi State, Ekiti, Lagos and two other states from the northern part of Nigeria for the programme, which was organised to kick off the training with 50 women and young men in mechanised farming instead of using the conventional farming system to boost farm produce in the country.

“The company wants to train the women to drop their conventional way of farming with a hoe, machete, and adopt using tractors, powered farm tools to guarantee agricultural industrialization. 

“The summary is that women should no more be using hoes, machetes, and other local farm tools to farm, we will teach them how to use mechanised farm equipment and implement to ensure farm mechanization.

“We want to teach the women, the youth who are into farming and other agro-related-businesses how to use farm implement and equipment so that what they do in a day, with the implement and equipment they can do it in less than one hour,” Prof Elechi explained.

He also said, through the program, the participants would access funds if enabling environment is created in Ebonyi, and other interventions, such as providing them, the seedlings very adaptable to the climate of the State that can quickly yield and multiple, to make more profits.

“They will know how to manage farm crops and make more money. What we are pushing is to make sure that the company establishes its office in Ebonyi, and when that is achieved, many farmers will be employed, and get more benefits from the opportunity,” he said.

While advising the participants to utilise the opportunity, the State Coordinator, called on both the public and private sectors to step into the program, by providing farmers with mechanised farm equipment for rent, noting that after using them for farming, they would deposit 10 per cent of their yields or pay the money, either by instalment or completely.

Delivering a lecture on “Mechanised Agriculture Practice and Impact on Poverty Alleviation for Women Farmers,” the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (administration) in Ebonyi State University, Prof Happiness Oselebe, equally charged the participants of the programme to be committed to the training by utilising the opportunity to advance agricultural practice in the state and the county at large.

Prof Oselebe noted that agricultural practice has contributed much to the nation’s building, saying that, with the introduction of a mechanised system of farming, poverty would be reduced to the barest minimum.

She recommended that politicians instead of buying and sharing foods or other items for farmers should rather provide them, the modernised farm equipment such as tractors and other powered tools to be used for farming, to advance agricultural practice especially now they are seeking their support to win the election.

Also, Chioma Ajah of Cafe Scientifique Woman, a moderator at the event while emphasising how to make agriculture more viable in the country, noted that the topics treated during the training had added more flesh to the skills of the participants in advancing their agric-businesses, adjudging that modernised agricultural practice would go far in boosting workable farming with outstanding productivity.  

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