Imoke inspects Songhai farm, promises to train farmers

The governor disclosed that the farm has widened the scope of farmers in the state who hitherto never knew that agriculture was a big time business, adding that, “the era when our farmers only cultivated and harvested agricultural produce and processed them outside the state is gone.“We have to cultivate, harvest and produce them here […]

The governor disclosed that the farm has widened the scope of farmers in the state who hitherto never knew that agriculture was a big time business, adding that, “the era when our farmers only cultivated and harvested agricultural produce and processed them outside the state is gone.
“We have to cultivate, harvest and produce them here in the state because they create value chain as well as opportunity for employment as processed products cost more than the raw ones,” he said.
Governor Imoke lamented that agriculture had never been carried out in the state in a manner it should and that the farm is expected to operate as a service or incubation centre, where trainers would be sent to the local government areas to train others.
He noted that trainers at the farm were trained on cultivation, harvesting and processing in such fields as animal husbandry, fishery, poultry, gardening and organic mechanization to produce high yielding crops from inexpensive technology.
He said the farm would not be driven by government but would be run by Songhai organization, which is globally recognized, adding that the workforce of the farm is not conceptualized on its size but should be seen as a huge project because of its components.
The governor was shown round the farm facilities, which included the hatchery, earthen and concrete fish ponds for agriculture, green house for market gardening, free ranch house for turkey, fowl and quail and abattoir under construction.
The governor and his team were told by the farm management that due to the swampy nature of the location, crop cultivation would be taken in another area known as Anon, while the pawpaw, pepper and cucumber farms there were genetically modified. He added that all the produce from the farm would be sold immediately because there is available market for them.
The farm management said no by-product in the farm was a waste as the droppings from the poultry would be stored in the earthen ponds to produce maggots for the feeding of fish while the waste from pineapple after extraction would either be used as animal feeds or manure for plants.
He disclosed that orchards are being marked out for the planting of mangoes, oranges and palm trees on five hectares of farmland and that in the next five years, they would be packaged into juice and other consumable items which would be commercialized.