Date: 2012-01-25

The Kwara state governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed has disclosed that two new foreign milk producing companies have shown interest in the collection system of fresh milk at the Shonga dairy farm to further enhance dairy production in the country. Ahmed, who made confirm this during an interview with journalists at Shonga, Edu Local Government Area, at an unscheduled visit to the newly established Shonga modern poultry farm, also appeal to the Federal Government to assist the farm on irrigation system to enable the Zimbabwean farmers to plant crops through -out all year. The new modern poultry farm, which currently has about 40,000 chickens ready for processing is expected to be increased to 80,000 before the end of next month. Ahmed noted that the absence of a coordinated process for pushing dairy business in Nigeria was responsible for the heavy reliance on evaporated milk. "We don't have a coordinated process for pushing dairy business forward in Nigeria because Nigeria is not yet a fresh milk consuming environment. "We are still tied to the canned evaporated milk but for now, the supply from here is given directly to WAMCO and we have gotten requests from two other companies, Nitrosinma and Hollandia, who are ready to join the collection system of fresh milk production". Ahmed, who identified absence of storage facility as a serious factor militating against daily production of fresh milk in Nigeria said with the coming of new companies requesting for fresh milk from Shonga, the dairy farm would surely break-even. "When you talk of commercial farming, it only makes sense when you have access to water and you are able to do an all-year-round farming, it cannot be supported under the rainfall water supply", the governor said. On the challenges associated with the problem of inadequate supply of maize for the poultry farm, Ahmed said the state government has identified maize, soya beans, cassava and rice as core crops to be planted statewide on a commercial basis. Expressing satisfaction with the rate of development at the farm sites, he encouraged farmers in the state to grow these four crops in large scale, assuring them of ready-made market for their produce. Earlier, the governor was conducted round the poultry farm and farms 2, 3 and 12 by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Alhaji Mohammed Isah Babakpan and owners of the visited farms, Messrs Pete Du Toit, Hunter Coetzee and Irvin Reid.