President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assured farmers on Monday of plans to replace conventional fueling for irrigation pumps with renewable energy (solar power).
News About Nigeria gathered that this plan was revealed by the President during the 6th Africa–Wide Agricultural Extension Week (AAEW) with the theme “Harnessing Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services in Scaling Regenerative Agriculture and Nature-Based Solutions for Food System Transformation in Africa,” held in Abuja.
Tinubu, who was represented by the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, noted that this would cushion the impact of the high cost of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, for the farmers.
According to him, the presidency is well aware that the cost of fueling irrigation pumps is skyrocketing; hence, the plan to introduce renewable energy as an alternative to reduce costs.
He further noted that these pumps will be made available to a cluster of farmers who will be able to tap into them.
The Federal Government also promised to introduce technologies that are simple, understandable, and available through multiple channels, noting that when the flow of information is not happening, its impact will not be felt.
He further disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has put together the first-ever Harmonized Extension Manual in Nigeria and a National Agricultural Extension Policy, which will strengthen Agricultural Extension Delivery Services in Nigeria.
He added that the Harmonized Extension Manual focuses on how to effectively disseminate and deploy agricultural innovations/technologies to end-users using appropriate extension methods.
