The Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with JohnDeere, Asia Private Limited and Tata Nigeria on production of tractors for agricultural mechanization in Nigeria.
Speaking after the signing exercise in Abuja on Monday, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, said the MoU was part of the outcome of the meeting of the Vice President Kashim Shettima’s visit to the United States with the leadership of JohnDeere.
He said the MoU was for partnership for the setting up of tractor factory and to create enabling environment for the company to do business in Nigeria.
Kyari said, “This partnership is between the Ministry and JohnDeere to ensure that our farmers have access to affordable mechanization equipment.
“This is purely a partnership for the offtake for the farmers not the government taking, what the government is supposed to do is to have an environment that is very conducive for John Deere to sell the tractors to the farmers.
“The minimum is 2,000 tractors per year for five years, as the demand increases, we will be glad for that to happen they can manage any amount.
Also speaking, the Vice President of John Deere, Jason Braintley, said the company is very excited about the agreement because it really signifies that the parties, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, John Deere, and Tata Nigeria, see similar opportunities to take proven practices in Nigeria and scale them up to make mechanization more available for more farmers.
