The executive-secretary of National Agricultural Land Development Agency (NALDA), Prince Paul Ikonne, Tuesday said the agency would establish an integrated farm estate in Ebonyi state that would be capable of supplying the whole of south-east and South-south with day-old chicks.
Mr Paul Ikonne disclosed this after a closed door meeting with Governor David Umahi at his Uburu country home, Ohaozara local government area of the state.
The NALDA boss noted that establishment of integrated farm estate was in line with the policy of the state government to achieve food security.
According to a press release signed by the Special Assistant to governor David Umahi on Media, he said that a 100 hectare of land was mapped out in Isu Onicha LGA for the project.
The statement qoated Mr Ikonne to have said, “we are in Ebonyi State to partner with the Governor of Ebonyi State, seeing that the Governor has keyed into the President’s agenda of achieving food security in Nigeria and with what the Governor has put in place infrastructure-wise, makes our job much much easier because farmers will be able to convey their farm produce as a result of the good road network.
“We are establishing an Integrated Farm Estate in Ebonyi State because that is the mandate of Mr. President that we should reactivate every abandoned Farm Estate and develop new ones to achieve food security.
“The eagerness of Gov. Umahi to achieve food security and his total support for President Buhari’s vision, especially in the areas of agriculture and resolving the herders-farmers’ crisis, NALDA is in the state to partner with the state Governor to achieve this.
“We are fully ready to mobilize workers to the site to start the land clearing and preparations and construction of structures that are needed.
“Ebonyi has been selected to be the state to produce fingerlings and day-old chicks that will feed the entire southeast and South-South. That is our mission here in Ebonyi State.
“The Governor has donated through the community, 100 hectares of land and then, we have a private investor who has also made his 17 hectares available for us to partner with the production of animal husbandry.” Then, there is another farm we are going to look at tomorrow which NALDA will take over and reactivate.
“The Farm Estates, when completed, will engage an estimated 3,000 young Nigerians. This is in line with the efforts of the Buhari-led administration to make farming more attractive to the youths as contained in the National Young Farmers Scheme, which was flagged off in November last year”.
He was further qouted to have said that “with the availability of lands as made possible by Gov. Umahi, “NALDA is going to kick-start the project and this Integrated Farm Estate will be fully commissioned by October this year”.
