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| Adesina, Agric Minister |
The Nigerian Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has applauded the
proposed 2013 budget for agriculture, presented recently to the joint session
of the National Assembly by President Goodluck Jonathan.
This is coming as there will be a
five-year tax holiday for sugarcane and sugar value chain investors, reports
the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
NaijaAgroNet recalls that President
Jonathan had proposed the sum of N81.41 billion for agriculture in the 2013
budget.
Speaking on the budget to his
ministry, Dr. Adesina said that the amount allocated showed that President
Goodluck Jonathan was confident that the sector could once again be the driving
force of the economy.
NAN reports that allocation
increased by less than three per cent over the current appropriation which
stood at N78.9 billion.
The Federal Government also
announced a number of measures aimed at boosting the Agricultural
Transformation Agenda.
Jonathan, while presenting the
budget to a joint session of the National Assembly, said that there would be a
five-year tax holiday for sugarcane and sugar value chain investors.
The president added that the
machinery and spare parts imported for local sugar manufacturing industries
would attract zero per cent import duty starting from January 2013.
He also said that the import duty for
rice would be increased to encourage local rice production.
Adesina, however, said that the
issue of budget was all about how the allocation was utilised.
He explained that a total of
7.8-billion-dollar private sector funding had been injected into the sector.
“In addition to that we have been
able to get so many local companies to process agriculture produce.”
Through the Federal Government’s
initiatives on cassava, rice, maize and soya beans, he said that about 8.1 million metric tonnes of food would
be added to domestic supply.
He recalled that President Jonathan
had promised that his administration would add 20 million tonnes of food to
domestic supply by 2015, adding that this was only the first year.
``That is about 41 per cent of what
we are targeting for in 2015. So we are working very hard.’’ Adesina said.
He promised that the ministry under
his leadership and that of Alhaji Bukar
Tijani, would ensure that Agriculture Transformation Agenda achieved its aim.
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