The federal government has reiterated its determination to tackle the issue of round-tripping and poor validation of farmers’ data in the agricultural sector.

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, stated this when Governor Abiodun Oyebanji paid him a courtesy call on Thursday in Abuja.

Mr Kyari said Mr Oyebanji’s visit signifies the strong partnership and collaboration between the state and the federal government in their collective efforts to ensure food security and agricultural development in Nigeria.

Mr Kyari said, “As we look forward, it is imperative for us to tackle some of the challenges observed during the ongoing wheat dry season farming in the 15 participating states.

“This is to avoid re-occurrence in the second phase for rice, maize and cassava and ensure that they do not impede our agricultural development agenda.

“These challenges include reported cases of round-tripping in connivance with agro-dealers and poor validation of farmers’ data in some participating states.”

He added that the ministry “is fully committed to addressing the issues of round-tripping and poor validation of farmers’ data” and that the government “are dedicated to implementing stringent measures in the forthcoming dry/wet season farming for rice, maize, and cassava.

“This is to ensure transparent distribution and target genuine farmers,” said Mr Kyari.

According to him, the ministry is focused on ramping up massive production of staple crops using technology and mechanisation to achieve this goal.

Mr Kyari said the ministry identified with the government of Ekiti and is aware that the state’s agricultural landscape has experienced notable achievements under his watch.

The Ekiti governor said he sought the federal government’s intervention and collaboration on agricultural programmes in Ekiti.

Mr Oyebanji called for including Ekiti in the federal government’s dry season farming, noting there are a lot of political farmers, but the real farmers do not get these interventions.

(NAN)