By Christy Aboghe/ Monu Donald
Following the recent damages caused by flood, the Delta State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr Godfrey Enita has assured Deltans of the state government’s dedication to doing all to cushion the negative impact of the flood on agriculture and allied activities in the state.
The Commissioner gave the assurance when he paid an inspection visit to the state government assisted Benin/Owena rice paddy in Illah.
Enita who was there to assess the damage caused by the flood said he was optimistic that government would step in to provide palliatives to cushion the huge loss on the farms caused by flood leading to massive damage on the food crop, as providing support to the farmers was the only way, they can remain in business.
Speaking earlier, Mr. Felix Okonti, the Managing Director of Merrybell Farms called on the federal government, whom he said were the Managers of River Basin and Inland Water Ways to assist the local farmers along the River Niger, River Benue and River Gongola basin across the nine states by constructing the necessary dams so as to as much as possible prevent incidences of flooding.
While revealing the source of the flood, which he said was as a result of the release of water from Cameroon dam, he said that Nigerian government was supposed to have constructed more than six dams upstream to help control flood.
According to Mr. Okonti, he had incurred a loss worth 72 million naira on his 50 hectare farmland out of the 100 hectares of rice farm land released by the government for the programme.
Speaking further, he said that the delay in the supply of agricultural input to participating farmers was complicit in the late planting which caused the plants to be caught up in the flood, despite opting for flood resistant variety, locally known as boga rice, as it was never envisaged that the height of flood would be so much.
While counting his loss, Okonti said it could only take the rapid intervention of the government to salvage the farmland from the ravaging effects of the flood.
