On 24 May, the Halleluya Techno-based Agro Farm Estate team visited IITA. The team, which launched its farm in 2018, seeks to partner with IITA and other agricultural institutes like the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and WorldFish to scale agricultural production. The group consisting of Chairman Bosun Arebua, Business Development Manager Cliff Odogun, and General Manager Ezekiel Akingboye, met with IITA management staff.
The team expressed interest in three IITA mandate crops; cocoa, cassava, and plantain/banana. Arebua spoke about the challenges of growing these crops and asked about the possibility of IITA experts visiting the farm and offering assistance on best practices and crops suitable for the soil. “We have just started, and IITA is our first point of call. We believe that IITA will give us the best advice and partnership opportunity possible,” he said.
Deputy Director General, Partnerships for Delivery, Kenton Dashiell, said that IITA would help in any areas possible and link the team to institutes that specialize in these areas in Ondo State, where the farm is located.
Molecular Geneticist Ranjana Bhattacharjee shared two options for better production of cocoa. She stated that since the cocoa plant is old as it has been in the field for years, the team can either graft the plant or start the planting process afresh. IITA Outgrower and Vegetable Trial Manager, Azeez Ejitola, under the Business Incubation Platform (BIP), advised the team to take the second option because it is better to start afresh and get it right. He also suggested a soil suitability test to aid crop yield; the team agreed to the idea.
Dashiell assured the team that IITA would get its experts to conduct a soil suitability test on the farm and advised on best practices to engage. “Your success is in the soil,” he said.
Alfred Dixon, Director of Development and Delivery Office, suggested that the team establish a processing center for value addition to cassava and other crops. He also recommended the best companies to source processing machines. The team was excited about this discussion and the feedback from the IITA team. They committed to implementing the suggestions.
Following the meeting, the team took a tour of IITA’s technologies. They visited the Plantain and Banana screen house, cassava field, and vegetable demonstration field. Going through the vegetable field, Ejitola took the team through the production process and enlightened them on the benefit of quick returns. The team showed an interest in horticulture as the quick returns, according to Arebua, will support investments in other crop production.
After the tour, the team concluded that IITA experts should visit their farm as soon as possible, based on the areas of interest specified, and give the best advice for production after testing the soil for crop suitability. “We will also leverage the outcome of this visit to rewrite our business plan,” Arebua said.
Contributed by Favour Eleta
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