By Maimuna Sey-Jawo
Omar Amadou Jallow, the Minister of Agriculture has stated that agricultural production has woefully failed in the past 22 years of the former regime.
“75% of the youths going through dangerous route to Europe are from the rural areas which have never happened before. Thus it is a signal for this new government to know that we are not only here for slogan and statements. People should start seeing the change and feel the change,” he stated
He made this remark while speaking to the members of the press as he wraps-up his six days countrywide meet-the-farmers-tour accompanied by his permanent secretary, directors among other senior officials under his ministry.
The tour was meant to give first hand information to the minister and delegation of issues affecting farmers as well as assess the success and challenges of the 2017 rainy season with prospects of the expected harvest.
The information gained from the tour will assist the sector to put up strategies on time for the next season so as to ensure improvement in agricultural production and productivity.
Farmers, he noted, are still encountering with lot of difficulties especially equipment, quality seeds, farm implement, fertilizer among others. “Farmers have already lost hope in the 2017 raining season. Therefore, the tour will avail us the opportunity to plan properly with a view to addressing some of the issues farmers are facing,” he posited.
The agric minister described the tour as a success as he was able to meet with farmers and interact with them.
“We were able to visit agricultural project sites across the country. Others have been completed and some are ongoing,” he explained.
Some of the agric directorates in rural areas, he went on, are not functional as they lack lots of things, thus the tour is crucial as it will address all those pertinent issues.
