Abuja: In a bid to strengthen agricultural productivity and empower rural communities, the Federal Government has unveiled plans to improve access to tractors for smallholder farmers across Nigeria.
The initiative aims to reduce manual labour, boost mechanised farming, and enhance food security by equipping farmers with the tools needed to scale their operations and increase yields.
On June 23, President Tinubu inaugurated 2,000 tractors and over 9,000 specialised farming implements for the cultivation of over 550,000 hectares of farmland across the country.
Sen. Aliyu Abdullahi, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, stated this in Abuja on the sidelines of activities to mark the 2025 World Food Day.
Abdullahi said that President Bola Tinubu had made it clear that the tractors must not end up in the wrong hands.
He said that President Tinubu’s policy directive was for the ministry to develop a programme or scheme to ensure that smallholder farmers have access to the services of the Agricultural Mechanisation Service centres that are underway.
” This is what we are working on; it’s a work in progress. We’ve gone very advanced at that, and we don’t want a situation where, at the end of this, these tractors will end up in the wrong hands.
“We are aware of the next season, the dry season and the like, we are targeting all of those to see what we can do to get these tractors off to beneficiaries from now till the beginning of the next rainy season,” he said.
Abdullahi said the tractors are equipped with advanced technology, adding that some would even shut down automatically if due for servicing and not maintained.
The minister assured that training and spare parts support would accompany the mechanisation rollout to guarantee sustainability and empower young Nigerians.
” We want to do that, guaranteeing that these tractors can be used sustainably. We have a training component in this tractor supply, and we also have spare parts for them.
“Young Nigerians can use it because these tractors are actually IT-enabled,” he said.
He said that the new tractors would soon be deployed to Agricultural Mechanisation Service Centres to ensure smallholder farmers have access to affordable services.
The initiative aimed to empower smallholder farmers with modern equipment, reduce manual labour, and increase yields.