By Fatima Muraina

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Ondo State Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Sunday Akintomide has affirmed that about 400 camps with 53,000 resident farmers have been registered in the state.
Akintomide made this known in a statement made available to newsmen by the Ministry’s Press Officer, Mrs Bisi Lawani, while playing host to a non governmental organization, People Against Corruption and Justice ( PACI) in his office.
He called on farmers in the state forest reserves to come forward to register with the government to ensure proper documentation.
“As at today, about 400 farming camps have been identified and about 53,000 farmers have been registered by the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the internal revenue service of the state.
“The capturing will enable government to coordinate the activities of the encroachers and kidnappers in the forest reserves as well as generate income for the government,”he said.
Akintomide, who explained that registered farmers had been issued identity cards to work in the government reserves said anyone who does not have the identity card is working illegally in the government reserves.
He, however, informed farmers to only pay N10, 000 per hectare and to also desist from planting cash crops, saying that government would give them economic trees to enable them regenerate areas that have been depleted.