‘Reclaimed Land Suitable For Urban Agric’

A lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Dr Steve Wordu, has explained the possibility of using reclaimed land for agricultural purposes.
Following the massive land reclamation projects being  carried out by the Rivers State Government, under Barr Nyesom Wike, Wordu opined that apart from the purposes of using such reclaimed land for housing, flood control amongst others, farming could also be done on such lands.
The don who is of the Sociology Department, explained that under a scheme called urban agriculture, the use of available spaces within the city and undeveloped spaces could be used for crop cultivation.
Wordu who spoke to The Tide in a telephone interview yesterday, said before reclaimed land settled properly for housing and other purposes, such land could temporarily be used for crop cultivation.
He said the practice would help in making the soil firm, especially in the swamp areas were certain crops thrive.
According to him, such crops include banana, plantain and pipeapple, in addition to firming up the soil until when the soil would be strong enough to carry structures, especially houses.
“Within that period of say three to five years that the reclaimed land is left to settle, the land can be used for agric purposes”, he said.
He, however, added that even though it was not a dominant scheme, but it is possible.