Ogun: Yet to actualise potentials

In the production of staple food items, Ogun State is not there yet. For instance, the state was known for production of Ofada rice, a local rice variety loved for its delicious taste and flavour. But now, it cannot boast of meeting the demand of local consumers, let alone selling to outside markets. It is the same story for cocoa, cassava, vegetable and other such crops, which the state formerly produced in large quantities.

Ogun is rich in terms of policies on agriculture, but it is sadly more on paper. A source at the ministry in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, said with what the present administration met on ground, it was more or less like starting from the scratch, and that a lot still needs to be done before the state could actually reap from its investment in the sector.

However, Ronke Sokenu, the state’s commissioner for Agriculture, said at the recently held Investors Forum that the state has opened its doors for interested individuals and corporate bodies to come and invest in the sector. She explained that the state is already shopping for a minimum of 200,000 hectares of land for commercial investors, willing to go into production of various crops. This, she said, shows the state’s determination to revive the sector, though she admitted that the state lags behind in the will-power to execute its many laudable programmes.

Said she: “One of such is the production of tomatoes and green peppers of different species, using the Green House technology at Kotopo in Odeda Local Government Area of the state. For a start, 15 units of Amiran Farmer’s kits were installed.”

As at October last year, when The Guardian visited, the crops were being harvested and sold to individuals and fast food joints. And though the actual revenue generated daily from it was not disclosed, the patronage recorded then was encouraging. The condition of the plants indicated that the state could break even, if the required efforts and money are pumped into the project.

However, the promise to double the 15 units of Farmer’s kit before the end of 2015 is yet to be fulfilled.

As at last Thursday, when The Guardian revisited, nothing seemed to be working there. Aside the fact that the Farmer’s kits were wearing out, there was no sign of fresh plantations to replace the old ones, as some of the planting areas were bare. And unlike when the place was still thriving, only two people were on the farm.

One of the officials at the site refused to respond to questions raised on the state of things, as she explained that she didn’t have any authority to speak with journalists without permission from her boss.

The Guardian gathered that 50 hectares of cocoa plantation has been provided at Alagbagba, Odeda, with the production of seedlings. Another 50-hectare cashew plantation is located at Afon in Imeko Afon local government area. Also, 9,000 hectares of land has been acquired at Itoro for private sector driven farm estate development, as well as, the provision of N1b agricultural loan and workshop for 2,526 farmers.

Other developments include; the resuscitation of two tons per hour feed mill at Kotopo for farmers’ use; rehabilitation of the three government-owned fish farms and establishment of fish processing units and multiplication centre with the capacity to produce 500,000 fingerlings; procurement of fishing inputs to be supplied to farmers at subsidised rate and distribution of 40 meat vans to various abattoirs for hygienic meat transportation and consumption.

At Emuren Poultry Multiplication Centre, government has also established 1.2 million capacity day old chicks hatchery, where thousands of day old chicks are being nurtured, just as mature turkey, most of which have already been sold were also groom.

Although it was difficult accessing the accurate figures of what is generated by government, it was obvious that a lot still needs to be done before the state could actually diversify from its dependence on Abuja and reap from its investment in the sector.

Two weeks ago, at a sensitisation programme held in Abeokuta, the commissioner had assured farmers that emphasis will now be placed on the production of rice, which the state is known for both in the upland and lowland varieties, as well as oil palm, which will be harnessed to serve as dependable source of raw material for agro-based industries and to generate employment opportunities.

She emphasised that the administration has put agriculture on the front burner of its development plans in the past five years and is now determined to turn the sector to a more vibrant commercial entity that will position it as the food basket of the nation.

Towards achieving this feat, she said the state would support farmers in the key areas, as well as other categories of farmers with loans through its Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CACS).

She called on the farmers to key into Federal Government’s intervention programmes, especially through the Central Bank and the Nigeria Insurance Corporation, whose officials had enlightened the farmers at the sensitisation programme.

So much on paper. All eyes are now on government to begin to make available to members of the public the contribution of agriculture to its monthly Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).