BY IKHILI EBALU, BENIN CITY.
The management of Benin-Owena River Basin Development Authority (BORBDA), has in line with the federal government policy of shifting from oil to the non oil of the economy with emphasis on Agriculture established four integrated farms in Edo state.
The farms located in Benin, Auchi, okpe and Uneme Nekhua were recently virtually commissioned by the minister of water resources, Engr Suileman Hussein Adamu from Benin, Edo state capital.
In his address during the commissioning of 4 Integrated Farm Schemes (Songhai Model) the Managing Director of Benin owena River Basin development Authority, Engr saliu Ahmed said the will to established the farms was borne out of the directive of the minister directing river basins across the country to set up an integrated farm in Senatorial district in every states of the country.
Engr. Amhed said the Integrated Farm are Production, Processing, Service Rendering and Research Based Centres.
Amhed said the federal government, in a bid to shift its entire focus from oil, has overtime continued to make consistent and deliberate efforts to improve on agriculture and its produce in Nigeria.
The BORBDA MD said agriculture has been identified as a key development priority in the efforts of government to increase food security, reduce poverty and diversify the base of the economy.
The MD said several initiatives, programmes, seminars, conferences and lectures on agriculture have overtime, been and are continuously being sponsored by the government to achieve rapid growth and fully maximize the full potentials of agriculture with the aim to achieve national food security, job and wealth creation.
He said sequel to the carefully thought out initiatives of the National Agricultural Transformation Plan by the federal government, the BORBDA Integrated Farm was conceived and birthed.
He explained that the whole exercise began in October 2017 at the Authority’s headquarters in Obayantor and it recorded its first harvest in May 2018.
He said, today, the Integrated Farm has spread through to the northern parts of Edo State to Auchi, Okpe and Uneme N’Ekhua.
According to him”We have also started one in Ikole in Ekiti State and hope to spread to Ondo State next year.
“The amazing successes the Integrated Farm has recorded since inception suggest that it has the potentials of spreading across the country in the nearest future.