Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari has disclosed that Nigeria needs at least 72,000 tractors for farmers to engage in mechanized farming and contribute massively to curbing the food crisis facing the populace.
Kyari, at a sectoral debate organized by the House of Representatives in Abuja, revealed that only about 5,000 tractors are currently in working condition at farmlands across the country, noting that the ministry has signed an agreement with a manufacturer for the supply of 2,000 tractors annually for the next five years.
Making his presentation before the house plenary, the agriculture minister said the rising food crisis in the country is as a result smuggling, flooding, covid-19, insecurity and last year’s cash swap by the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN).