Governor Kayode Fayemi claims that his administration has brought over 200 pregnant cows from the United States.
The pregnant cows in Ikun-Ekiti will be managed by the Ekiti-owned Ikun Dairy Farm. The farm will be used to test the National Livestock Transformation Plan.
According to Fayemi, it would solve the farmers-herders conflict in Ekiti.
“These cows are going to be stationary. They are not roaming anywhere. They are not going on open grazing. They are right here on the farm.
“You know what? We have suffered from open grazing not just in the state but across the length and breadth of the country.
“Once this model is in place, it will show us what we can do with the National Livestock Transformation Plan,” the governor said.
Fayemi stated this during an inspection of the newly-arrived 227 cows at the dairy farm and the farmland to cultivate hays.
He added that the integrated farm, designed to commence production of 10,000 litres of milk daily, was a joint project of Ekiti and Promasidor Diary Company.
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Fayemi explained that the pregnant cows would be confined to their sheds on the farm.
According to him, the state acquired about 500 hectares of land to grow fields to take care of the animals to prevent them from roaming.
The governor said,” The capacity of the dairy farm, being put to use for the first time in the last 40 years, has been expanded to run 24-hour operation in raising of cattle and production of milk.
“The dairy farm will also demonstrate Nigeria’s capacity to be a milk-producing nation rather than being a milk-importing nation.”
Fayemi visited the facility in the company of the farm’s General Manager, Hermann Kibler, and the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Olabode Adetoyi.
He expressed confidence in the private-public partnership arrangement between the state government and Promasidor to guarantee the sustainability and economic viability of the farm.
“This dairy farm has been here for 40 years, and it has not been put to use. This is the first time that it is going to be put into proper use. As we have always said in the state, agriculture is the pathway to progress, particularly for us. We are an agrarian society,” Fayemi said.
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