'Farmer' Samson Ogbole, as he is fondly called, is a household name in the horticultural sector in Nigeria. He is the owner of a 100-acres greenhouse integrated farm (Soilless Farm Lab) in Nigeria and by extension in West Africa. The farm is located in Awowo, Ewekoro LGA of Ogun State and produces 23,000 metric tons of spices annually.
The young man's interest in agriculture started during his NYSC program at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA, Ibadan, Oyo State in 2012. In 2020, he started his own farm, the Soilless Farm Lab and five years later, he runs the largest greenhouse farm in the country – deploying precision agriculture on over 100 acres to ensure that the farm has year-round production without depending on seasonal elements.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Trust during the HortiNigeria learning event, he explained what he produces in the farm: "I play around the horticultural value chain from primary production, processing and storage to distribution through our own logistics chain. So, we produce things like tomatoes, bell peppers, chili peppers, habanero peppers, Carolina reaper pepper, cucumbers, leafy veggies like lettuce, Swiss chard, and a whole lot."
Asked how much he started the farm with, his response was: "I think trying to put a figure would sound misleading as opposed to saying I started with knowledge. I started with the knowledge I gained from IITA, and from a whole lot of other places. That was more than what money could give. So that's where I started from.
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