Unizik assures Anambra , Obiano on food security

www.odogwublog.com reports that the Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Professor Joseph Ahaneku has assured Governor Willie Obiano and the Anambra state government that the research and experimental farms established by his university will complement Anambra State Government’s effort at ensuring food security.
Ahaneku spoke on Tuesday after inspecting the University’s Agriculture farm run by the Department of Agriculture.
He said that with the university’s plans to establish a hatchery and having also got approval to build a feed-mill, the university would help in providing fish, a major protein requirement.
While being conducted round the farm by the Acting Head of Fishery and Aquaculture Dr. Mrs. Chika Ikeogu, Ahaneku said he was fascinated by the farm equipped with fish ponds with a capacity of holding 4,000 fishes, a farm land  planted with cassava, oranges, maize, palm trees and so on.
According to him, “it is a thing of joy that students of the department have keyed into this. It is a great hope for us. It is a way of complementing what the state government is doing, placing food on the table”.
“This is part of our learning process so that we don’t just theorise but do the practical aspect of it. We still have high hopes from what we have seen. The price of fish will soon fall because we plan to have a hatchery and the department has secured permission to build feed-mill’, Ahaneku added.
It would be recalled that Agriculture is one of the four pillars of Governor Willie Obiano administration and the government has embarked on aggressive cultivation of various types of crops in large farm lands acquired from communities, especially in Ayamelum local council.
Ahaneku said when all the plans fall through, the farm will produce sufficient food, which if for no other thing, can feed part of the university population.
Though Ikeogu said fund was major hindrance in achieving maximum potential of the farm, the V-C praised the department and asked her to improve the place by bringing written proposal which he said he will act on immediately. “As soon as we receive a written proposal we will act on it”, Ahaneku promised.
Among other things, the HOD had said that the farm needs a borehole that will supply enough water to the fish ponds because the one serving them at the moment does not pomp large volume of water which is the reason why out of the seven ponds, only three were functional.
She also said that the farm needs a reservoir that will serve as all seasons farming.
The existing fish ponds she explained, contains 1,200 cat fish but if there is enough water, the ponds will be fully engaged to host over 4,000 fishes.
Ikeogu said the fish pond is served by two shallow ponds until the present borehole was sunk. She hoped that the rest of the ponds will be utilized but they have to wait until the dry season so as to test how much water the existing borehole can supply to the existing ponds.
Ahaneku, however, noted that the farm is a basic teaching facility and that he is pleased that the students were doing well.
He later visited the beautiful gate road which is the main gate into the university, as part of his inspection of on-going projects in the university.
He hoped that the contractor who got the road project will hasten up and complete the project on schedule.