The Benin-Owena River Basin Development Authority on Wednesday said four states in Southern Nigeria would experience food sufficiency.
The Managing Director of the Authority, Mr Lucas Ijasan, in an interview in Benin said the four states are: Edo, Delta, Ekiti and Ondo, adding that they were currently benefiting from the authority’s irrigated farming and livestock projects.
“This authority is under the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, so our activities are mostly in the aspect of irrigated agriculture geared toward increasing output on a particular land area by 10 folds. “We have irrigated farms all over the four states we cover, some of these irrigated farms are undergoing development while others have been completed. And we do rain-fed farming in areas where we have not completed irrigation farms,” Ijasan said.
He said that over 18,590 hectares of land were used for irrigated and rain-fed farming in Edo on a yearly basis.
“In Ilushi Area in Edo State, we cover about 18,000 hectares every season, we allocate from these lands to farmers which they use in rice production. “At Obayanton in Edo, we have about 90 hectares oil palms plantation, we produce palm oil and we also raise seedlings we sell to farmers. “We also have up to about 500 hectares in Obayantor, which we allocate to farmers every year for farming purposes,’’ he added.
He said that in an area in Asaba, the authority operates over 500 hectares of farmland used for the cultivation of rice and maize.
“In Erusu-Akoko, Ondo, we have a partnership with a semi-private sector to plant 100 hectares of tomatoes farm which would be irrigated from a dam. “The contract to get irrigation from the dam is ongoing and we will also have a demonstration farm of about 20 hectares. “In Ekiti, we have about 200 hectares in one local government area and in Ikosu Area, our operating area is 540 hectares, but the irrigated area is about 110 hectares,’’ the managing director said.
He said the authority was also into livestock production, adding: “we have a poultry farm in Ikere, in Ekiti which has 11,000 layers capacity. “The state government through its youth empowerment programme is going to stock about 9,000 birds, this year, while we will stock the remaining 2000 capacity.