A group of farmers under the auspices of the Cocoa and Plantain Farmers Associations of Nigeria has called on the Federal Government to come to their aids following pests attack on their farms.
The farmers lamented that they had lost millions of naira as a result of the ugly development as the pests had destroyed a lot of their produce, particularly tomato and plantain.
The state Chairman of the association, Mr Oluronikise Ibidapo disclosed this the during the inauguration of the Ondo State chapter of the association, held in Akure, the state capital.
According to him, cocoa beans and plantains were destroyed by the pests which had badly affected the expected harvests of the farmers.
The chairman stated, “The magnitude of destruction of our crops by the pests was more devastating due to our inability to work on our plantations during the COVID-19 lockdown period.”
Ibidapo specifically appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to come to their aid through the provision of chemicals, farm implements, seedlings as well as funds to cushion the effects of the pests invasion.
He also solicited financial intervention to help the farmers in the South and the rest the Northern states that didn’t benefit from the N13 billion, recently released to some Northern states to control the pests invasion on their farms.
Ibidapo, who commended Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State for his support for farmers, urged the governor to attend to all the roads leading to their farmsteads, noting that bad road problem had been the bane of their revenue annually as most of their harvests wasted away due to the poor conditions of the access roads to their farms and settlements.
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