Amidst the commencement of the raining season, Osun state government has approved modalities for the operations of tractors across farmlands in Osun state.
Commissioner for Agriculture, Hon Tola Faseru who confirmed the development in a statement signed by him on Monday, said interested farmers are to reach out to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry or the General Manager of Osun State Agricultural Development Corporation (OSSADEC) through virtual or physical applications.
He noted that the government is subsidizing the operational rate per acre to lower the cost of farm operations, explaining further that the tractors will be domiciled at the OSSADEC farm centre located across the state.
Hon. Faseru who said some of the tractors are already in operation in some farmlands noted that the ministry is working to set up technical centres at designated locations for maintenance of the tractors.
He narrated further that tractor drivers are being assembled, trained and retrained for seamless operation even as he explained that the administration adopted a public private partnership approach for the management of the tractors.
“We are happy to inform the public that the tractors are out for the rainy season. We are conscious of the question of sustainability, hence the careful approach to inject private sector practices.
“In 14 or so years, this is the first time Osun is having new fleet of tractors. We have learnt from what caused the failure of the past efforts. We won’t repeat the same mistakes.
“We know we are not there yet. But Governor Adeleke has blazed the trail by procuring the first set of tractors. We innovated also because of ongoing issues at the local government level.
We don’t want it to be managed in unsustainable manner. Hence, Mr Governor insisted the tractors be managed like a business although with public subisdy”, the Commissioner posited.
He stated that the ministry is reaching out to stakeholders among the farming community to ensure accelerated access for users within the state.
