The Ogun State government in western Nigeria is to set up large scale Greenhouse Tomato farms in the three Senatorial Districts of the state in its bid to engage thousands of youths in productive and profitable employment.‪

At a Greenhouse Technology Vegetable Farm in Kotopo on Saturday, Governor Ibikunle Amosun, said that the project, being supervised by the Ogun State Agricultural Development Programme (OGADEP), was part of the Agricultural Industrialisation Programme of his administration.‪

“Not less than 1,000 units of the Greenhouse pen will be provided at each of the project sites in order to guarantee massive employment for the youths as well as make the state self-sustaining in food production.‪

”In the long run, the government, in line with its five cardinal programmes aimed at fully exploring agricultural value chain, will set up production plants close to the farm for the processing of the farm produce,” he said.

Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs Ronke Sokefun, described the project as one of the deliberate initiatives of the Amosun administration to get the youths engaged, expressing delight that millions of youths will be accommodated.

The Programme Manager of OGADEP, Mr Ibikunle Onasanya, said that each of the Greenhouse units would provide yield equivalent of one hectare tomato cultivation in the open farm.

“It is a modern way of doing farming in a smart way because all the variables are controlled and run through irrigation system,” he explained.