The chief executive officer of Paschal-Rico Group of Companies, Pascal Aneke, and Switzerland returnee Sunday Ozokolo, on Sunday, distributed agro inputs to rural farmers in Ezeagu LGA in Enugu.

The duo, who hail from Ezema Mgbagbu-owa, said they planned to reawaken the spirit of agriculture in the area.

The items that were distributed  included motorcycles, agro chemicals and cash.

Mr Ozokolo said agriculture had the potential to solve the challenges and problems people face in today’s world.

He said, “I have been abroad and saw how people there are doing it in agriculture. So, when I returned, I saw that some of my people are lagging behind in agriculture.

“So, there was the need to empower and encourage them to embrace farming. We give them prizes based on what they cultivated from Ezeagu soil and this year, we chose yam.”

Mr Ozokolo added, “Whoever his yam becomes the overall best goes home with the biggest prize, followed by second, third and other consolation prizes. 

“First prize goes home with a motorcycle and two agro chemicals, second prize goes home with a motorcycle and one chemical, while the third prize goes home with only a motorcycle.”

He said four farmers would get consolation prizes of one carton of agro chemicals each, plus cash.

On how they would differentiate Ezeagu yams from others, Mr Ozokolo said they invited agricultural experts to verify whether the yams presented were Ezeagu yams or not.

He gave assurance that the event would be made annual in order to encourage farming.

Mr Aneke appealed to youths to embrace farming. He said the empowerment was to promote agriculture.

According to him, the LGA has a large expanse of land for farming but regretted that most of the youths are unwilling to farm.

“The few that are farming, government should help them with access road to transport their produce to markets in the state,” Mr Aneke said.

A guest speaker and community woman leader, Ifeoma Obidiaso, who delivered a lecture on ‘Agriculture as a developmental means in the rural area’, emphasised the massive benefits of agriculture to youths.

Ms Obidiaso advised that women in the rural areas should be encouraged to go into largescale farming.

She regretted that farming in the area was gradually going into extinction and hoped that the empowerment programme would help to revitalise it and make communities understand the importance of agriculture in their  environment.

“There is need for people to go into farming as a means of driving away poverty, develop themselves and sustain themselves through it,” she said.

A farmer, Jonex Okongwu, expressed happiness over the empowerment, saying it is the first time such a programme would hold in the area.

(NAN)