Ogun State Government has registered over 55,000 farmers under the State Farmers Information Management System (OGFIMS), set up to offer one stop resource to farmers and other value chain actors in the state.

Commissioner for Agriculture, Hon. Bolu Owotomo, who dropped this hint during a presentation to the senior course 46, Armed Forces Command and Staff College(AFCSC), Jaji, Kaduna at Mitros, Abeokuta, saying the platform was to ensure farmers are linked to agricultural opportunities for better productivity.

He said, ‘’Apart from this, about 12,600 farmers have been trained this year on different programmes among which 3,500 farmers were trained in financial literacy while over 1800 were trained in climate smart agriculture’’.

Owotomo said the state had intervened in all strata of farming including cassava, rice, fish and the poultry sector where over 1000 metric tonnes of maize was released to them at a stiff discount to reduce the cost of production.

"Our target is to ensure we massively increase productivity so that our agro-allied industries can have adequate raw material for production and at the same time earn foreign exchange", he said.

He revealed that government was also using farming as a veritable tool to engage the youth to increase food sufficiency and reduce dependence on white-collar jobs, adding that the Ministry was determined to improve the efficiency of the value chain to enable farmers process what they produce.

Responding on behalf of the Commandant, the team leader, Navy Captain Timothy Ebo appreciated the state government for its efforts at enhancing food security and engaging the youth, emphasising the importance of agriculture to the socio-economic development of the country.