Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, has said that more investment in the agriculture sector remains the surest way to food sufficiency and economic stability of any country. Oba Ewuare said this when he hosted an agro-business investor Capt. Nosa Okunbor, a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Desmond Agbama, and made available to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Benin said. Agbama said that Okunbor visited the traditional ruler of Benin Kingdom to his first fruit harvested from his Well Green House Farm Limited.
Ewuare was quoted as saying that the growth of a country’s revenue largely depended on agriculture. He said that more job opportunities would be created in the country through agriculture and agro-businesses. “Natural resources such as crude oil can be depleted, but farming continues to thrive through all ages, which explains why governments at all levels are encouraging agriculture.”
Oba encouraged the people to embrace farming in order to contribute to job creation and food availability in the country. The monarch offered prayers for a bountiful harvest for all farmers across the state and the nation at large. Earlier, Okunbor told the Oba of Benin that he was at the palace to present the first production of his green-house farm located in Benin. According to him, the farm is expected to provide over 2,000 jobs as well as solve the problem of hunger.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Well Green House Farm occupies 27 hectares of land, with capacity for growing vegetables using the Hydroponics method. Hydroponics is a method of growing plants without using soil. This technique instead uses a mineral nutrient solution in a water solvent, allowing the nutrient uptake process to be more efficient than when using soil.
