The Cross River State administration has begun distributing enhanced seedlings and herbicides to 135 schools within the state’s three senatorial zones.

The program aims to improve food security and enhance the state’s battle against hunger and malnutrition.

The state’s Commissioner of Education, Senator Stephen Odey, stated that the seedlings will assist schools in reviving practical agriculture methods that have fallen extinct in public schools.

Improved variety seedlings provided include maize, pumpkin, cassava, and melon, among others.

Odey emphasised that cultivating better seedlings can yield a lot.

Representing the Commissioner, the chairman of the Committee of Young Farmers Club in the State Ministry of Education, Comrade Asuquo Amaku, said that with the farm inputs, school authorities can re-introduce practical agriculture and contribute their quota to boost food production.

“What we are doing here is a follow-up to what happened during last year’s farming season.

“We discovered rotten crops and so much grass in their farms, so we decided to support the schools with herbicides and improved variety seedlings,” he said.

He said distributing the seedlings is another way to complement the state governor’s determination to intensify the fight against starvation.

“This is why we are giving the seedings to agric teachers and school principals so that they can use the inputs to teach students how to practicalise agriculture for increased food production,” he added.

Comrade Etim Nsa, the Principal of NYSC Secondary School and State Chairman of the All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), stated that the seedlings would help to reinvigorate practical agriculture as a subject.

“Our goal is to ensure food security for everyone. We charged agriculture teachers and school principals with planting the seedlings on time so that they could produce seedlings for the following year.

Source: Leadership.ng

Image Credit: The Leader