The Federal Government has expressed displeasure over the delay in the delivery of 2,000 tractors to improve mechanised farming for farmers in Nigeria.
It noted that 500 of the tractors are expected to have arrived to the country by now and wondered why the consulting firm is yet to meet up with the agreement.
Abubakar Kyari, The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security made this known in Abuja while speaking with John Deere, the agricultural equipment manufacturer in charge, he said by now the first set of the tractors ought to be delivered to meet up with promises made to Nigerian farmers.
Recently the Federal Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with John Deere in November 2023 for the supply of 2,000 tractors annually for the next five years.
Kyari told the member from John Deere that Nigerians had been assured of the delivery of 2000 tractors in 2024, “and by now we should have 500 tractors on ground.”
He said, “The only concern that I have and we have here at the ministry is that there seems to be a slow pace in some of the concepts that we have lined out.
“But here we are, we are a bit stuck in the mud and we want to run away from all the problems that we have envisaged in the past. And if there are any naughty areas that we need to look at, we need to do it assiduously.”
Kyari stressed that swift action should be implemented to hasten the delivery of the tractors as the wet season is fast approaching, adding that there is the need to quickly see the effect of the tractors for the benefit of farmers and the country at large.
To increase agricultural yields, the tractors are of great importance, as this was very adequate for ramping up the production of food, he revealed.
“We are challenged as a nation and the land is shrinking, hence we need to increase yield. We are under-tractorised right now as a country. And I think any journey begins with a step. So if you have taken this step, you should commend the Federal Government for taking this step.
“And you’ll find out what I’m talking about. So I think this is the right step in the right direction. The Federal Government, under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu has decided that this time this should work.”
John Deere, the managing Director, Stephen Gouws, explained to the minister that the organization had been faced with inability to access the funds proposed as regards the supply of the tractors.
“The aim is for mechanisation for higher yields. So the challenge that we see is that the yields are there but its sub optimal. So we have to increase those yields with the land we have. However, access to finance is the biggest stumbling block for us.”
Gouws stressed that the goal of his firm was to increase yield and profitability using technology and training and expressed optimism in delivering the tractors once the last couple of hurdles were crossed.
