In view of the worsening food crisis in the country, the Federal Government has been urged to set a clear cut target with states Governors to produce at least 10 million metrics tonnes of grains per state.

Former Senior Special Assistant to  former Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu on Agric and Agribusiness, Pastor Akin Olotu, who stated this in an exclusive interview with The Hope, said the Federal Government should equally issue a presidential order on food production to agricultural based institutions.

Olotu contended that the government should assemble the 36 states Governors and institutions to agree on short, medium and long terms targets on food production.

The agric expert believes each state in the country could roll out at least 10 million metrics tonnes of grains in each crop within the shortest period.

He posited that he foresees anarchy if the government fails to address food crisis with speed. He explained that God has over favoured Nigeria in terms of natural and human resources, and that there is no excuse why we should not be able to produce in excess grains such as rice,maize,soya, among other crops.

He said each state could leverage on its comparative advantage on crops they can produce best, open up the forests reserves, rural roads and if possible,bring back DIFFRI.

He suggested that each state should initiate a fully coordinated security operation, and engage at least 500 youths to flush out bandits in the forests and allow the farmers to return to their farmlands.

He also emphasised the need to decentralize agriculture and make the Federal Ministry of Agric operate on a regional basis to achieve faster results. According to him, cocoa, groundnuts development by the western and northern regions respectively, during the time of Chief Obafemi Awolowo were regional arrangements.

According to him, any fund meant for agriculture should be rooted through the region to the farmers, while urging President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to give priority to agriculture in order to restore the country’s lost glory.

So, Mr. President needs to regionalise the country’s agricultural system to improve food security.

“And it will create a lot of jobs for the people, the crime rate will go down, and we will have a lot of foreign exchange in a sustainable way. There should be equal attention to tree crops because we need forests.

“There must be an immediate and conscious effort to promote all these crops in the country. It is a matter of necessity, it is not something that should be delayed, it can be treated with speed the way the issue of fuel subsidy was treated.

“So the solution to our problem in this country is power devolution, let us reduce the load at the federal level so that agriculture can thrive. For us to do it successfully, we need adequate security.

He said the government should support practicing farmers to produce more as a short term strategy, while mechanised farming with research backup, rural electrification and rural housing scheme could come as medium and long terms targets.

He noted that several investors showed interest in the Ondo State’s agricultural projects while he was in office, leading to the establishment of large-scale farms, agro-processing facilities, and partnerships with local farmers, saying six investors are doing exceedingly well and the impact would be felt in the next couple of years.

Olotu said “the eggs factory located in Owo, which he said is first of its kind in Africa, is a major agricultural initiative being implemented by the Ondo State government to promote the production and processing of eggs in the state. He said it is at 87 percent completion.

“If you go to The Dome today, you will see all the equipments there. What is outstanding on the eggs factory is the big dryer that is to come from China and the utility building;,the utility building has to be done to specification.

“The requirement for the factory is 500,000 eggs per day and our intention then was to take off by August this year but hopefully the present government can still achieve the take off date because Mr Governor is committed to the success of the project.”

Olotu called for adequate financing of agriculture through agric loan scheme, urging the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to key into the scheme to boost productivity and improve food security.