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The Hon. Savannah regional minister, Saeed
Muazu Jibriel has called on investors within and outside the country to take advantage of the agricultural investment opportunities to invest in the Savannah region.
The minister made this call while addressing the media when he paid a working visit to the Babator Irrigation farming hub at Babator near Bamboi in the Bole district of the Savannah region with all seven MDCEs in the region on Sunday, 9th January, 2022.
The seven (7) MDCEs in the region are in Bole district for a retreat to discuss and to reflect on government policies for the past year and to deliberate and consider what is ahead of them for the year 2022 but took time to visit some investment sites by private individuals and to also inspect government projects within the Savannah region.
According to Saeed Muhazu Jibril, the Babator irrigation farming hub is one of the biggest agricultural investments in the Savannah region and owned by one investor who has a 100% share which has the capacity to create jobs for the unemployed youth in the Savannah region when given the needed supported.
The minister expressed happiness over what he and his team saw at the Babator irrigation farming hub and that many others like the Inland Ports which is being executed in the Debar area in the Central Gonja district, has a lot of investment opportunities that can help solve the unemployment situation in the North.
On the challenges faced by the Babator irrigation farming hub, the regional minister explained that, one of the major problems of the company is electricity as giant power generators supplying electricity for the irrigation plants consumes up to 1,500 littres to 1,800 littres of diesel within 30 hours to irrigate the land and that there is the need to cut cost and in doing so government in its power through his office and that of the DCE for Bole will make sure that electricity is extended to the facility to enable the Babator irrigation farming hub develop at least 50% of their under utilized land.
He explained that, the road leading to the farm is being constructed through the influence of his office despite some initial challenges encountered and promised to get companies like Buffer stocks to purchase from the Babator irritation farming hub for the growth of the region.
The liason officer for AgDevCo Ghana, Mr. Ibrahim Askanda explained that, the Babato Irrigation farming hub idea was conceived by the African Agricultural Development company (AgDevCo ) which is a UK based company with a branch in Ghana with the intent of leasing 10,000 hectors of land from the people of Babator to set up a commercial farming hub.
He narrated that, the crops currently on the farm is in a form of a showcase for investors on what is possible to do on the project land and that Obaa pack company was set up as the first concept through which AgDevCo could showcase crops that are of economic value and the potential crops that can be cultivated on the land.
Mr Ibrahim disclosed that, the farm has been in an existence since 2016 and has over the period done a number of trials on so many crops and that, the Babator farms is now being fully owned by Obaa pack Ghana, an agribusiness conglomerate located at Techiman in the Bono East Region.
The farm manager for the Babator irrigation farming hub, Mahabaleshwar Hegde disclosed the Babato farms company limited currently covers about 353 hectors of land in utilization with 9,000 hectors of land unutilized and draws water from the black volta.
Mr Hegde said, they rotate four crops cycles in a year to reduce pest and disease build up in the soil, thus Maize, Soyabeans, onion and Banana with a major focus now on Onion Soyabeans and Ginger which the are yet to start.
The Regional Minister was in the company of the Municipal chief executives for West Gonja and East Gonja and the district chief executives for North Gonja, North East Gonja, Central Gonja, Bole and Sawla Tuna kalba.
Source:padfm.com.gh.com / Kumatey Gorden
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