Kwara engages two firms to boost Shonga farming scheme

KWARA State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, has disclosed that two new foreign milk producing companies are now set to join the collection system of fresh milk at the dairy farm- Shonga Commercial Farming initiative, to further enhance dairy production in the country.Ahmed, who made the disclosure during an interview with newsmen at Shonga, Edu Local Government Area, during an unscheduled visit to the newly established Shonga modern poultry farm, also sought support from the Federal Government for irrigation in the farm to enable cropping farmers go through an all-year-round farming.The new modern poultry farm, which currently has about 40,000 chickens ready for processing is expected to increase to 80,000 before the end of next month.He decried the absence of a coordinated process for pushing dairy business in Nigeria, which he said, was responsible for the heavy reliance on evaporated milk.'We don't have a coordinated process for pushing dairy business forward in Nigeria, because Nigeria is not yet a fresh milk consuming environment.'We are still tied to the canned evaporated milk but for now, the supply from here is given directly to WAMCO and we have gotten requests from two other companies, Nitrosinma and Hollandia, which are ready to join the collection system of fresh milk production,' he said.The governor identified absence of storage facility as a serious factor militating against daily production of fresh milk, which often leads to wastage, stressing that with the coming on board of about three bigger markets requesting for fresh milk from Shonga, the dairy farm would surely break-even.Speaking on the need for Federal Government's support for irrigation in the area to assist the cropping farmers, he explained that the state government has initiated moves, but still inadequate because it is capital intensive.'When you talk of commercial farming, it only makes sense when you have access to water and you are able to do an all-year-round farming, it cannot be supported under the rainfall water supply', the governor said.On the challenges associated with the problem of inadequate supply of maize for the poultry farm, Ahmed said that the state government has identified maize, soya beans, cassava and rice as core crops to be planted statewide on a commercial basis.Expressing satisfaction with the rate of development at the farm sites, he encouraged farmers in the state to grow these four crops in large scale, assuring them of ready-made market for their produce.Earlier, the governor was conducted round the poultry farms by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Alhaji Mohammed Isah Babakpan, and owners of the visited farms, Messrs Pete Du Toit, Hunter Coetzee and Irvin Reid.
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