The Abia Government has rolled out a farm-to-harvest monitoring programme to track the performance of 15,322 farmers under Phase Two of its input distribution scheme.
Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Cliff Agbaeze, who announced this in Umuahia, said that the government was moving beyond input distribution to hands-on support.
He said that the Ministry, in partnership with Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike Agribusiness Incubation Centre, had deployed agricultural officers to farms across the state.
The Commissioner explained that the officers were expected to guide farmers on the proper application of improved seedlings, fertilisers and agrochemicals.
He said that they would also assess crop progress and address challenges in real time.
Agbaeze noted that only verified farmers in the state’s database were selected for the programme.
This, he said, was to promote accountability and ensure resources reach those who needed them.
He said that Phase One had 3,312 beneficiaries, while Phase Two represented a major scale-up.
According to him, the strategy will help measure the actual impact of government’s agricultural investment.
The Commissioner reaffirmed that Gov. Alex Otti’s administration was committed to shifting agriculture from subsistence to agribusiness.
“Government support does not end with distribution. It follows the farmer from farm to harvest,” he said.
