FG Commences Reactivation Of 35 Hectares Of Farm Estate Abandoned For 30 Years In Imo State.
The Federal Government on Sunday announced that it had commenced the reactivation of the 35 hectares farm estate in Imo State that was abandoned for more than 30 years.
It signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Imo State Government for the reactivation of the Acharaugo Emekuku Integrated Farm Estate in Owerri North Local Government Area of the state, PUNCH reported.
The government disclosed this through the National Agricultural Land Development Authority in a statement issued in Abuja by NALDA.
The Executive Secretary, NALDA, Paul Ikonne, who inspected the farm estate in Imo State and a fish village in Abia State, said both projects were been developed to engage about 800 workers.
For the farm estate, Ikonne said the facility had capacity to engage about 500 farmers directly and would have a veterinary training centre.
“The training centre will be used to give practitioners and prospective veterinary doctors the opportunity to be trained and acquire knowledge on how to take care of the animals within the farm,” he stated.
He added, “Our intention is to make the farm fully functional, bring back the things that used to be there before, such as the poultry, piggery and goat pens.
“Also, additional facilities such as the processing and packaging units, training centres and snail rearing points will be restored, where farmers will be taught on rearing and processing.”
Ikonne said Imo State had promised to increase the farm estate from 35 hectares to 100 hectares of land in other to contain the earlier outlined facilities and have a crop production area.
On the fish village in Ariam Ikwuano Local Government Area of Abia State, the NALDA boss said the facility was occupying 100 hectares of land and would engage about 300 direct workers in areas of fish and grasscutter farming as well as crop production.
Ikonne said the fish village would be the first of its kind in the South-East and it would involve the entire value chain of fish production from the hatchery point to rearing, processing and packaging.
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