Mr Oke said local farmers could still meet up with the yearly crop productivity output with strict adherence to NiMet’s directives and predictions.
He said the state had taken initiatives to enhance food security through climate-smart seed production.
The minister said mechanisation farming was crucial for agriculture as it would support food production in the country.
He said they were working with the respective farmers’ associations to register more dry-season farmers.
By 2022, the apex bank had revealed that at least 4.8 million farmers had benefited from the programme.
The AFAN chairman said that smallholder farmers contributed much to food production and food security in the country and should be empowered.
The permanent secretary reiterated the present administration’s commitment to enhancing agricultural production in the country.
The farmers said the tractor-hiring scheme only favoured farmers in politics and neglected smallholder farmers.
“He performed woefully in terms of agriculture because there shouldn’t be ethnicity in government programmes and empowerments at the national level.”
Also speaking, Adewunmi Malik-Adeola, noted that there was poor information about the policy in the rural areas, where majority of the farmers reside.
