An agric expert in Cross River State, Mr Simon Ogbaji, says the Obudu Cattle Ranch has the capacity to sustain production of beef and dairy products in the State if revived.
Ogbaji, who disclosed this in an interview with The Tide’s source yesterday in Calabar, said the Ranch was not all about the resort, tourism and entertainment.
The source reports that the Obudu Cattle Ranch, which is now known as the Obudu Mountain Resort, is located on the Obudu plateau in the northern part of Cross River State, close to the Cameroon boundaries and belongs to the Cross River State Government.
The Consultant with the state’s Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries and Aquaculture called on Governor Bassey Otu to look in the direction of the ranch, noting that the state had huge potential for livestock production.
According to him, in the 1970s, there was a massive production of beef and milk at the ranch which were transported to Calabar and the facilities are still there, only abandoned.
The former Director of livestock in the State Ministry of Agriculture said with little resources put there, there would be the production of enough livestock for the state.
“The ranch is not all about tourism. In the days of Mr Donald Duke, the Ranch was conceded to a company called Farm Fresh but they could not manage it, while Mr Liyeel Imoke took it from Farm Fresh and handed it to another company to run.
“Since then, nothing has happened in the ranch. Maybe it is political, otherwise, the facilities are still there, including the dairy houses with a large expanse of grazing land.
“If the ranch is put to use, we will not depend on the north for beef production again, as there will be enough production of milk and beef in Cross River”, he noted.
Ogbaji added that apart from having expanse of land for grazing, in a secure environment, the people of the area were interested in cattle rearing, all the state needed to do was to engage them.