INTEGRATED FARMING COMMENCES IN IMO STATE

Reporter : CHINAZO ILECHUKWU

The Federal Government is set to engage over one thousand Imo youths under its new agricultural programme known as “Integrated Farm Estate.”

At the commencement of the programme in Umuneke-ngor, Ngor Okpala Local Government area of Imo State, the Executive Secretary National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), Prince Paul Ikonne, said the youth would focus on crops, poultry and fish farming.

The Integrated Farm Estate is one of the programmes of the Buhari-led administration to tackle unemployment and ensure food security.

The people of Umuneke-ngor in Ngor Okpala Local Government Area of Imo State are known for agriculture though mostly at the subsistence level.

Speaking at the kick-off of maize cultivation in part of the four hundred hectares of land set aside for the project, the Executive Secretary of NALDA, Prince Ikonne, noted that the government was targeting to make the state a maize hub for the nation.

Prince Ikonne explained that youths of the community would own the farm while NALDA would provide a market for the produce to encourage the farmers, adding that tractors and irrigation facilities had been provided to ensure all year round farming.

The traditional ruler of Ngor, Eze Fred Nwachukwu, and his counterpart from Umukabia, Eze Emmanuel Eke, said their communities jointly donated land for the project due to their conviction that the Imo Integrated Farm Estate would redefine agriculture in the area.

Some indigenes of the community who have been trained on the programme thanked the Federal Government for the gesture and promised to utilize the opportunity to better their lots.