The Federal Government is ready to establish a pilot Soil Assessment Laboratory in the Ido/Osi Local Government Area of Ekiti State.
The State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Ebenezer Boluwade, disclosed this in a release made available to newsmen in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday.
Recall that the Federal Government also recently appointed Ekiti as a pilot state in the Southwest for agriculture
According to the commissioner, the development would enable farmers to have their farmland soils tested in Ekiti, as opposed to the previous practice of travelling to a private lab in Ibadan or as far away as Kenya.
He further explained that the move is aimed at enhancing the livelihood of farmers in Ekiti State.
He said that the project, which is a collaboration between the state and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, is the first of its kind in Southwestern Nigeria.
The commissioner stressed that the initiative would also create opportunities for the state to partner with universities and polytechnics offering Soil Science, potentially providing world-class services to farmers in the state and its environs.
Commending President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government for assisting the state through various agricultural interventions to ensure food security and improve the quality of life for the populace, Boluwade reiterated that the Biodun Oyebanji administration, in partnership with the Federal Government, has embarked on various agricultural programs to transform the state into a food hub.
He stated that due to these interventions, the state has opened up thousands of hectares of land, fixed rural access roads, and engaged youths in large-scale agriculture with attractive incentives, including the distribution of inputs and agrochemicals to various farmers across the state, among other laudable programmes.