The National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) says it will unveil the Afritropic Greenhouse Farms by December to ensure year-round availability of fresh and hygienic vegetables for residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and neighboring states.
The Executive Secretary of NALDA, Mr. Olusegun Adebayo, disclosed this on Wednesday during an inspection of the ongoing construction of the 20-unit greenhouse farms in Abuja.
Adebayo said each greenhouse unit has the capacity to produce between two and three tonnes of vegetables such as pepper, tomato, and other horticultural crops.
He listed facilities at the site to include a packing house, humid cooling system, solar-powered boreholes, cold storage units, overhead stanchions, drip irrigation systems, and security infrastructure.
According to him, the initiative will help decentralize vegetable production, reduce transportation costs and post-harvest losses, and address challenges in the horticultural sector.
“The idea behind the greenhouse farms is to improve access to hygienic, all-year-round vegetables for residents of the FCT and neighboring states.
With this technology, tomato and pepper scarcity during the lean season will be a thing of the past,” Adebayo said.
He added that similar greenhouse projects are underway along the Lagos–Epe–Sagamu Expressway to serve Lagos and Ogun States.
Adebayo further disclosed that land clearing for open-field vegetable cultivation is ongoing across 20 selected locations nationwide, with about 10 hectares to be cleared in each federal constituency and allocated to women farmers.
“The 20 locations are in Cross River, Taraba, Gombe, Kwara, Katsina, Plateau, and Oyo States, among others. Each site will also be equipped with cold storage, a packing house, and irrigation facilities,” he added.
