Burkina: Minister Ismaël Sombié recommends the use of drones to alert any anomaly in the agricultural campaign
The Minister in charge of Agriculture, Commander Ismaël Sombié indicated Thursday, in Ouagadougou, that his department has recommended the use of drones to alert any anomaly during the agricultural campaign 2023 for a rapid reaction of the technical services.
“We have instructed the early warning system for the rapid reporting of any anomaly with a view to a rapid reaction of our technical services through modern means such as the drones at our disposal” for the achievement of better agricultural production 2023, said the Minister of Agriculture, Animal and Fisheries Resources, Commander Ismaël Sombié.
Ismaël Sombié spoke this Thursday, July 27, 2023, during a press conference, in Ouagadougou, to present the actions of the 2022-2023 agricultural campaign.
“To support our producers, 2,074 ha of new developments have been made and made available to them for this campaign,” he noted.
He also said that his department through its traditional subsidy program has made available to producers 25,000 tons of mineral and organic fertilizers and 7,000 tons of agricultural and fodder seeds as well as motorized equipment.
“Among these supports, 1,250 tons of fertilizer and 350 tons of seeds were allocated to IDPs following the planned empowerment plan,” he explained.
Mr. Sombié also mentioned the plowing of 15,000 hectares of additional land, the contribution of 6,000 tons of fertilizer and 250 tons of seeds to support the production of the Defense and Security Forces (FDS), the Volunteers for the defense of the homeland (VDP) and certain internally displaced persons (IDPs) within the framework of the face-to-face initiative.
It should be noted that the Presidential Initiative for Agricultural Production will mobilize more than 1,000 soldiers, more than 2,000 volunteers for the defense of the homeland (VDP) and more than 4,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and probably detainees, in order to to produce 190,000 tons of cereals and vegetables on more than 11,000 hectares for the 2023-2024 agricultural campaign.
“We have started the promotion of institutional purchases with a forecast of purchase by the State in a logic of contract farming of a quantity of at least 48,265 tons of cereals from producer organizations”, he said. he continued. This, according to him, in order to constitute a locomotive to boost production.
“This support provided by the State, which will be added to the support of non-State actors, with the commitment of the producers that I have observed in the field and counting on good rainfall, should enable us to achieve our production objectives. production of 2023 as defined last May during the launch of the campaign”, he argued.
As a reminder, it is planned to produce 5 million 308 thousand tons of cereals, 1 million 815 thousand tons of cash crops and 1 million 75 thousand tons of other food crops.
Source: Burkina Information Agency