14 different mechanisation machines for the Centre Region were handed over last Thursday.
The government of South Korea has donated 14 different mechanisation machines to boost rice production in the Centre Region of Cameroon. The machines comprise two Branson tractors, two Seed Germinators, two Seed Beds (Nara), Riding Rice Transplanter, Combined Harvester, Paddle Harrow, Bed Soil Machine, Power Sprayer and Fertilizer Applicator, among others.
The equipment was handed over to the government of Cameroon by South Korea’s Ambassador to Cameroon, Cho June-Hyuck, last Thursday January 26, at the Agricultural Machinery Experimental Study Centre, Nkolbisson-Yaounde. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Essimi Menye, received the gifts on behalf of government.
Ambassador Cho June-Hyuck said the equipment was within the framework of the Mechanised Complex Development Project for Irrigated Rice Cultivation in the Centre Region promoted by the two countries. The project, which he said, is one of the examples of Korea’s willingness to contribute to agricultural revolution in Cameroon, aims at alleviating poverty in rural areas. This will be through increased rice productivity by developing mechanised rice farming and supporting the new second-generation agricultural policy that is in line with Cameroon’s 2035 growth vision.
“The project will be implemented up to December 2013; including the construction of infrastructure for farming, deployment of experts, construction of buildings and individual capacity-building training programmes in South Korea,” the diplomat said. He said Cameroon’s labour force and fertile soils were capable of boosting production to get the country out of persistent rice importation. “I hope that this cooperation will lead to a future where Cameroon will make use of these potentials and produce rice not only for local consumption, but also for export,” he said. The Ambassador announced the imminent take off of another project, “The Korea-Africa Food and Agricultural Initiative.”
To the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, the offer of the equipment is timely, given that government is determined to promote second-generation agriculture. “We have to move to the field and start building infrastructure and preparing land. We need to learn from our Korean friends. They will teach us how they did it before. Also, we need to get more young people into agriculture. We will set up similar projects in other regions based on what we would have learned from this initiative,” Mr Essimi Menye said.
