The Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, through the Lagos Agricultural Scholars’ Program (LASP), has distributed the Smart Aquaponics and Poultry System (SAP-Sys) units, to six schools in the state, to expose students to modern agricultural techniques and enhance food production.
The State’s Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs. Abisola Olusanya, noted during the handover ceremony that the initiative will assist agricultural teachers and students in infusing agriculture with technology to practically grow food in a sustainable way.
The SAP-System units, which are solar-powered, modern, innovative integrated farm technologies for rearing aquaculture, hydroponics, and poultry simultaneously, were installed in four public secondary schools, one private secondary school, and one correctional center.
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Each of the schools got a SAP-System unit stocked with 400 fish juveniles, 50 Point of Lay Birds, planted vegetables (fruit and leafy), as well as the provision of inputs for food production and micro-enterprise activation championed by students, under the supervision of technical officers of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The beneficiaries of the first phase are the Lagos City Senior College, Sabo-Yaba; Igbobi College, Yaba; Omole Senior Grammar School, Ojodu; Lagos State Model Junior Secondary School, Meiran, Agege; Anthony Village Senior Grammar School, Anthony; and Special Correctional Centre for Boys, Oregun.
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The Commissioner added that it is important for students and teachers to imbibe technology into agriculture, in order for students to see it as a good enterprise, stressing that agriculture is the space to look for millionaires.
“More importantly, this is more like a 360-degree waste reticulation system. The aquaponics, for instance, where the fish are being produced, the waste water should feed the hydroponics, the soilless vegetable farming, and even the waste from the poultry should be used in the form of fertilizer that can be reutilised within the premises of the school”. Olusanya said