Why we’re into fodder production, dam construction – Farmers’ group

The Nigeria Farmers’ Group and Cooperative Society (NFGCS) in Ga’ate community, Kokona, Nasarawa State, is going into massive fodder production, using hydroponic technology. The farm is also constructing a dam that has the capacity to hold 320million litres of water, which is expected to be completed in April this year. The dam is also expected […]

The Nigeria Farmers’ Group and Cooperative Society (NFGCS) in Ga’ate community, Kokona, Nasarawa State, is going into massive fodder production, using hydroponic technology.

The farm is also constructing a dam that has the capacity to hold 320million litres of water, which is expected to be completed in April this year.

The dam is also expected to accommodate a minimum of two million fishes in phases as the group is diversifying into other subsectors of agricultural value chains.

In addition to fishery, it will irrigate at least 40 hectares of land, which the group wants to use for production of vegetables.

For the hydroponics, the technology is designed to make nutritious feeds available for its dairy and fattening programmes. The farm has already stocked over 5,000 different species of cattle in the farm and targets a total of 10,000 in the coming months.

According to the farm’s manager, Mr Peter Ogbeide, the technology will make good and nutritious feeds available to animals within seven days.

Ogbeide said with the technology, if you plant one kilogramme under the hydroponic system, it could produce additional 5-6 kilogramme of feeds with good water content that would minimise the animals’ water consumption.

He said with the right nutrient from the hydroponic, the farm can grow a cow from 250kg to 400kg in three months under their fattening programme.

The group has also developed a mobile app called Ga’atevest to mark their third anniversary.

Mr. Retson Tedheke, the national coordinator/secretary of Nigeria Farmers’ Group and Cooperative Society, told Daily Trust on Sunday in the farm that mobile app was the online investment platform offered by the  group  to provide opportunity to those who want to get involved in the farm, as well as the one-stop shop for agric sector information.

“Ga’atevest is a cooperative crowd-funding platform that offers Nigerians across the globe the opportunity to invest in agriculture while earning attractive returns,’’ he noted.