The National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) has commenced the construction of its Integrated Farm Estate in Ogun State with a target of engaging 1500 farmers and generate N2 billion annually after its first year.
The farm estate is located on a 100 hectares of land in the state’s Special Agro-Industrial Zone, in the Makun-Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of the state.
Land clearing for the project has been done and the land is being mapped out for different activities such as crop farming zone, Cassava processing zone, fish processing zone, snail processing zone, warehouses, fish pond, snail farm, poultry, goat and sheep pen, office area and pasture area for grazing the animal.
Interacting with Journalists after a visit to the site, the Executive Secretary of NALDA, Prince Paul Ikonne shades said the farm estate in Ogun would be the biggest in production of fish, goats and snails due to its proximity to the commercial city of Lagos.
“The reason why we want to make Ogun farm one of the biggest in production is its proximity to Lagos, and you know that there is market for everything in Lagos and our target for the farm in Ogun is proximately N2 billion annually after the first year of the startup.
“Ogun is one of our key farm estates because of its proximity to the sea ports for export purposes and the farm estate would give Nigeria and Nigerians an image in food production.”
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Prince Ikonne noted that the Farm estate would expose the host community to development and boost the living standards of not only the community hosting the farm Estate in Ogun but all other communities hosting the NALDA Integrated Farm Estate.
“What the Farm Estate would do to the community is first, development, reduce migration from the community to the urban areas, increase their incomes through agriculture, increase the GDP such that the living standards within the communities that are hosting NALDA integrated estates would definitely go up”
“The prospects are high because there would be traffic of people coming into the community buy from the farm Estate based on what is being produced in the farm estates so it’s a win-win for all the communities that are hosting NALDA Integrated Farm Estate.
According to Prince Ikonne, NALDA Integrated Farm Estate is purely organic and would be fully mechanized with all year round farming activities as irrigation system would be deployed noting that the Ogun soil is encouraging as its high yielding.
He added that NALDA has commenced the implementation of the directive given by President Muhammadu Buhari after the commissioning of the first farm estate in Katsina state that NALDA should replicate the Integrated Farm Estate module in all the one hundred and nine (109) senatorial zones in the country.
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