The Lagos State Government has started the construction of drainage system, water plant and perimeter fencing in the Ikorodu Fish Farm Estate, Odogunyan to tackle flooding and save the farm settlement.
The State Acting Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms Abisola Olusanya made this known during the inspection of the Fish Farm Estate in Ikorodu, Lagos State on Sunday.
She said the construction of the drainage system would go a long way in improving the productivity of the farm estate as crop growth rates and fish production would be maximised.
She said the drainage system would be used to control water bodies, prevent ponding, gather excess water from the land area and drain water from the farm to an outlet point where the water would be let out into the canal.
“We are here at the Odonguyan fish farm estate owned by the Lagos state government; we find it imperative to inspect the fish farm settlement since we invested a whole lot of money in this place. We wanted to see how far we have gone with some of the projects we have going on and as you can see behind us here, there is a drainage project going on to help mitigate the impacts of flooding within the estate. In the past, we had this whole place flooded, water from the road came down into the estate affecting crop production and fish production. With this one kilometer drainage, this will be a thing of the past and we hope that our farmers will be happy with this kind of initiative from the government and the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu”.
Olusanya said upon completion of the drainage system, there would be an increase in the yield potential of the fish farm estate, a reduction in viable and machinery costs, which would be conducive for plants to thrive.
According to her, the need to construct the drainage arose from information gathered when the ministry carried out an appraisal of farm estates and settlements to obtain comprehensive data on their status and production level with a view to taking appropriate steps to increase their productivity.
Olusanya said the appraisal was imperative to achieve the goal of the state government to upgrade and improve the existing farm estates and settlements across the state with cutting edge agricultural technologies initiatives and interventions.
“This is in order to ensure they operate optimally in line with global best practices”.
She said a water plant had also been constructed within the premises of the estate to help the farmers in the area of water supply to facilitate reduction in the cost of fish production.
“The ministry has also constructed a water plant within the Ikorodu fish farm estate in order to supply water to the 194 plots in the estate to complement the existing water scheme in the estate. The project will facilitate a reduction in the cost of fish production by N700,000 per annum per allottee, as allottees will not need to sink boreholes on their respective plots. This will translate to a reduction in operational expenses such as energy and maintenance cost among others. The water project will also increase fish production from 10,000 tonnes per annum to 16,200 tonnes per annum as maximal stocking will be achieved”.
Olusanya said a lot was being done by the state government to ensure movement within the estate was unhindered.
“We will be giving a lot more intervention now and, in the future but we also need our farmers to understand that it is only when taxes and levies are paid that we can continue to support in terms of infrastructure. It has to be a mutually beneficial relationship. You cannot not give back and keep expecting; that mutually beneficial relationship has to be properly balanced for it to be a win-win situation. Under the administration of Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, we want to assure our producers that we will continue to give them maximum support to ensure the enabling environment created is beneficial to everyone”.
© 2020, Scud News. All rights reserved.
