FG to recapitalise agric bank with N3 tr

The Federal Government will recapitalise the Bank of Agriculture to the tune of N3 trillion in order to enable farmers in the country to have access to funds at affordable interest rates.

The Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, said this on Monday at the inaugural harvest of a Tilapia from a fish farm belonging to Premium Aquaculture Limited, Oyan Dam in Abeokuta.

He noted that access to funding remained one of the biggest challenges being faced by farmers in the country. Lokpobiri lamented that commercial banks were not ready to fund agriculture, hence the decision by the Federal Government to recapitalise the bank in order to boost the agricultural sector.

The minister said the nation’s fish demand stood at 3.1 metric tonnes per annum, but the current production was around 1.1 metric tonnes per annum, leaving a deficit of 2.1 metric tonnes.