Ouagadougou: The Minister of Agriculture, animal and fishery resources, Ismaël Sombié, paid a visit to the Léraba province (waterfall region) on Monday, February 19, 2024, in order to immerse himself in the progress of lowland development work undertaken as part of the 2023-2025 agropastoral and fisheries offensive.

Launched on January 15, 2024, development work on 280 hectares on the Sindou peaks lowland site is progressing at a snail’s pace.

This is the ‘bitter’ observation made by a delegation led by the Minister of Agriculture, Animal and Fisheries Resources, Ismaël Sombié, on Monday February 19, 2024 on site.

More than a month later, nothing has yet been done, yet the site which is part of the 2023-2025 agropastoral and fisheries offense must be usable from the beginning of June 2024.

‘I’ll come back here next week. I don’t want to find the site at this level,’ he told the representative of the company in charge of the work.

The ministerial delegation was also able to visit the Douna site where deve
lopment work is underway. Around 600 ha will be made available to the population for the production of rice and other crops on this site.

Developed by the Léraba plain development and development project (PAVAL), the minister was able to see the evolution of activities.

He instructed the managers of the company in charge to speed up the work so that the first batches (farm plot) are delivered to producers at the start of the next campaign.

According to the Secretary General of the Minister of Agriculture, Animal and Fisheries Resources, Gaoussou Sanou, the implementation of these sites will allow the achievement of production objectives as part of the 2023-2025 agropastoral and fisheries offensive.

After these two sites, the minister visited the Kouna farm, an agropastoral and fisheries production site, in the commune of Wolonkoto (Léraba Province).

With an area of 17 ha, the farm is an inclusive model which allows the integration of agricultural, fishery and animal production.

According to the Secretar
y General, the production model of the Kouna farm fits with the ambitions and axes which are defined as part of the 2023-2025 agropastoral offensive.

This farm which uses the drip irrigation system includes 4.5 ha of maize, 0.5 ha of mango trees, 14,200 broilers and 10 oxen.

‘We are impressed by what he is doing in terms of job creation and production targets,’ said Gaoussou Sanou.

According to the Secretary General, the major objective is to reach the month of June with a high level of production in order to achieve the objectives defined as part of the offensive.

For the promoter of the farm, Moussa Koné, the objective for this farm is to produce corn in order to feed the chickens and use their waste to fertilize the soil and produce corn.

‘Being an integrated operation, it’s also about lowering the cost of chicken production and the cost of corn production,’ he explained.

According to him, his farm is in a dynamic of supporting the agropastoral and fishing offensive, because wheat occupies 0.15 ha in
its production.

‘We think that this type of culture can work very well in the Cascades region and we will support the government by making a certain number of agricultural products available so as not to always import foodstuffs and cereals,’ he said. hear Moussa Koné.

Source: Burkina Information Agency