A day out at Lagos Zogale farm

It is not difficult to locate the farm once in Yaba. It takes only a few minutes ride on an ‘Okada’ (commercial motorcycle) and the mere mention of “Gona” for one to reach the place which has a cooling atmosphere due to the presence of the green and the dumpy area.Physically, the farm has a […]

It is not difficult to locate the farm once in Yaba. It takes only a few minutes ride on an ‘Okada’ (commercial motorcycle) and the mere mention of “Gona” for one to reach the place which has a cooling atmosphere due to the presence of the green and the dumpy area.
Physically, the farm has a serene look and far away from the modern day Lagos. It is dominated by farmers who mostly come from the Northern part of the country and tilt the land, all year round, to make a living.
It is also a place where dozens of able bodied youths expend their strength judiciously and many have gone to as far as obtaining university education from the earning that they make from the farm, our correspondent has learnt.
Gona is a vast swampy land that contains several farm lands that specializes in producing mostly vegetables such as lettuce, spinach and cabbage among many other vegetable crops. Officially, it is known as ‘Tejousho’ farm.
Although these vegetables are in abundance and produced in commercial quantity,  the one that stands out of the lot in the various farms that constitutes gona is the “Zogale” or Moringa tree.  
The presence of the moringa leaf or its tree which, at its first stage of maturity, appears like cassava plant, is ubiquitous within the farm,
According to my guide and also a farmer, Alhaji Ya’u Musa Sakaba, there are thousands of moringa offshoots in the place, mainly produced for commercial purpose.
“The farm contains thousands of moringa plants which we produce in commercial quantity,” he said.
Sakaba said the plant is consumed locally and internationally.
“We have quite a number of Indians that buy the moringa plant, which they use mostly for medicinal purposes,” Sakaba said, adding that the planting and harvesting process is quite simple.
“Once you get the seeds which usually comes in covered shelves, it is then planted on the bed of soil already prepared, not too deep into the soil but on the surface,” he said.
It takes not more than ten days for the seed to germinate, our correspondent learnt, though depending on the method of planting employed, meaning that one can uncover the shelf that envelops the main seed for quicker germination or plant it the way it is.
“If you remove the cover on the seed, it takes like an average of ten days to germinate and appear, but doing otherwise takes more than that.” Sakaba added.
But the farmers at gona always prefer the former means because quicker germination means quicker harvest, hence faster money.
The moringa plant can withstand drought where there is no water. However, the dampy area at the Tejousho farm gives it the required water for it to grow favourably and ensure a bumper harvest.
On the average, harvesting at the farm, according to Sakaba, usually takes place by the time the moringa plant is 35 days.
“However, once you remove the leaves it takes only about two weeks for fresh ones to appear, it is a simple cycle of harvest that requires no technical approach,” Sakaba said.
However, a moringa plant that gets frequently harvested has tendency to leave the tiny tree vulnerable to diseases, which requires preventive step to ensure it is not affected.
“There is the need to powder the branches, because by removing the leaves you have stripped it of its protection, but when powder, the branches become immune to any unwanted foreign organism,” Sakaba said.
He said as far as moringa is concerned, nothing is left to waste because apart from the leaves, the stems, the back as well as the roots are used for different purposes, especially medicinal, that is why the tree earns the title “the miracle tree.”
Indeed, many studies have shown that it is easier to name ailments that moringa does not cure than to mention those that it cures.
As mentioned earlier, away from the moringa issue, Gona encompasses quite a number of other vegetables that are being produced in commercial quantity allowing sufficient supplies to significant number of local governments in Lagos.
According to farmers, many five star hotels in the state get their vegetable supplies from the farms.
However, one of the challenges faced by the farmers in the area, our correspondent gathered, is the problem of insufficient water supply for the plants. Some of the sources of water in the farms are mainly deeply dug pits with improvised but slippery steps that allow farm workers to water their plants.
“What we need is the permission to construct boreholes that would allow the farm to have sufficient water all year round without any hitches.”
Indeed, it is obvious that the role gona or Tejousho farm plays in supplying agricultural produce in the state is so essential that it does not only need boreholes but all the support it can get, from government or non-governmental, to continue play its vital role in the agriculture sector of the nation’s economy.