15Nigerian Ti1liuni'! ;. . Tuesday, 24 May, 2011

'Researc institutes, farmers should look beyond govt for support' THE Coordinating Director, National Food Re-

. _ serve Agency, Dr Ibrahim LawaI, has appealed to the Federal Government to make agricultural

practice not only attractive, but lucrative to the teem­ing populace in order to reduce the incessant flight of highly skilled personnel from the country.

He st~ ted this recently in Ibadan, Oyo State, while addressing farmers and agriculture experts at a progra,,:,me o~garu.sed by Oyo State Ministry of Agri­culture In conjunctIOn WIth FADAMA III project in the state. .

Speaking through Dr Bayo Akanji, a director of the agenc~ in the I?ad~n o~ce, ~e stated that the practice of agnculture IS still bemg vIewed from the sidelines by many Nigerians, noting that those who are already mto the profession need assistance from the govern­ment so that they could have unhindered access to funds and needed farm inputs in order to increase their food production capacity.

. He said, "farmers in the country need to be helped wIth both funds and inputs. They need support from both the government and private organisations. Many developmental programmes of research institutes and Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) in the country today are being hampered by lack of fund. Research activities and programmes need to be ad­equately funded in order to achieve expected suc­cess. Likewise, agriculture needs to be made attractive and lucra tive because it is a business, otherwise, we would continue to lose skilled personnel to other sec- institutes tors and countries," he stated. food secured.

Dr LawaI also tasked research institutes in the coun- approam because agriculture is not only a practise, it is also a try to carry practising farmers along in all their activi- lucrative business,"he advised. ties~ stressing that, we are all aware of the government Speaking further, the expert advocated that the spirit of pohey on agnculture which is the practice of the age public-private partnership (PPP) should be allowed to Oow Ion!? profession on a commercial scale. Therefore, I m the veins of the nation's agricultural sector, adding that adVIse our research institutes across the country, as the government alone cannot solve all the problems facing well as experts, to make sure that small scale resource the sector. peasant farmers are n~t !eft out in this thinking." H.e ha? tl~ to say, "I ~h to suggest that in the spirit of

The unplicabon of this IS that all our efforts in research public-pnvate partnership, the Agricultural Development and extension should focus on value chain and Programmes (ADPs) should link or invite tl1e participation

~ ... ~U\..C J.a.L.l.l~ III ~VVa.La, l"lJ.OCJ.

enough for Nigerians' T has been observed that rice fields avail­able in both' 1<wa ra

othe r nations of the from financial institutions world. in Nigeria had been a pro\:r

go a long way to help our farmers and guarantee agri­cu ltural development as well as boost food produc­tion in the country and tl1e same advice goes for re­search institutes. "

We should realise that as agriculture becomes a busi­ness and more financially re-

< warding, agricultural re­search and ex tension organisations should also start looking inward in or­der to generate funcls for tlleir services among other dien­tele. (that is, end-users of their effort and services.) In this re­gard, they shoul<:l also de­velop new ievenue generat­

·ing mechanisms that would encourage and motiva te practising farmers to do more so as to bear some of their ser­vice costs," he affirmed.

On his ad vice for the Ag­ricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), which is the umbrella body for re­seard1 institutes in the coun-

try, .th~ ~ boss said that ARCN should be more prag­matic mIts approach towards its support for researm activi­ties so as to solve major problems confronting the practise of agriculture across the length and breadth of the country.

'''The ADPs should conduct fresh diagnostic surveys that would bring out most of the field level problems of our fam1-ers. In such a way, research will be geared towards solving the problems of the end users and by so doing, the confidence of farmers in our ability as agricultural scientists and extension~rs wOl.dd be rekindled and tl1e future of our pro­fessIon will be bnghter,"he further posited.

On what he expected from the National Food Reserve Agency, Dr Lawal urged the agency to live up to her mandate ~ a federal coordinating organ for agricultural extension, mput support, food production, processing, storage and mar­keting.

He, however, tasked fam1ers and agriculture experts in the country to pray for the ageney so that the NFRA Bill could be signed so that the agency can once become effec-tively functional. .

and Niger sta tes are enough to produce large quantities of rice for the consut:Jlption of the entire West African sub-region.

According to him, "Ni- lem as Nigeria banks. did geria has an esiimated not understand the nitty-99million hectares of cul- gritty of agricultural bank­tivatable land for agricul- ing. ture with only 30per cent He listed land availabil­under cultivation. That ity, technology, access to means the country has credit faciliti es, access to about 60milJion unculti- power and infrastructure as va ted but cultivatable some of the requirements for hectares of land scattered commercial agriculture.

of private entrepreneurs into funding of their activities or progr=es. Government should also create an en­abling and conducive envi­ronment to see that the ideas that are being generated by experts were made to work and should be judiciously implemented. This would

NDE to give training manual to Johnson Babajide, farmers that the new approach

A former Commis­sioner of Agricultu re in Kwara Sta te, Professor' Mohammed Yissa Gana, stated this at the opening ce remony of a-two day human resource develop­ment conference which took place at Agricultural and Rura l Management Tra ining Institute (ARMTI), Ilorin, with the theme:-"Promotion of com­mercial agriculture in Nige­ria: Implications for human resource development".

Professor Gana added that despite the availabil­ity of these fie lds in the north central states, Nige­ria still expends billions of naira ,9n imp<?,datioq.,9.f rice from Thailand ana '

across the country." Other requirements ac-He said though the cording to him are provi­

country had all the poten- sion of irrigation for all year tials' to embark on com- round farming activities, mercia I agricu l ture, it availability of storage facili­lacked the requisite tech- ties, creation of alliance witl1 nology to do same, add- processors and ready hu­in g that, "Nigeria has a man resource. young population that is In his remark, the state either unemployed or un- HeadofService(HOS), Alhaji deremployed who could Dabarako Mohammed said be trained for commercial "it is my belief that collec: agriculture. tively, we have all d.iscovered

He furtl1er observed tl1at that agriculture is the main­the country has large vol- stay of tl1e economy where ume of both surface and un- more than 70 per cent of the derground water for irriga- population is engaged and tion for ~-season agri~ul- as well .prqviding tl,l~ , much ture! stressmg that sourcmg needed raw materials lor our 10nS'ierm Cfedit faciliile~f . agr6-aliied' indusirieil."

Lokoja would ensure proper of the NDE drawn from documenta ti on of all Nasarawa, Benue, stakeholders in the rural Kwara, Plateau, Kogi and employment activities in Niger states, as well as the the zo ne in order to Federal Capital Territory enhance coll aboration

T HE National Directorate of Employment

(NDE) is planning to give agricultural training manuals to farmers in order to address the challenges of agricultural production and rural job­creation in the North Central zone.

According to the press s tatement issued by the Information Officer of NDE in Kogi State office, a copy made available to Tribune Agriculture, he stated that the resolution was passed during a one­day working seminar for officers of the Rural Employment Department

(FCT), Abuja. and synergy for increased The meet ing, food production and job.

acco rding to him, a lso creation in the sector. explored the use of the Barrister Asomugha faciliti es of the River- stated that the NDE plans Basin Authorities to boost to strengthen rura l food production, wh ile employment as a deliberate crea ting jobs through strategy to check the rural­capacity building. urban drift in quest of white

"When produced, the collar job, adding that the manual would also NDE has built Agricultural identify the peculiar agro- Skills Trainin g Centre in all ied en terprises and Igalamela and Yagba East other economic rural off- Local Govemment Areas of farm endowments within the state as a deliberate plan the zone". to propel the new strategy.

Kogi State Coordinator "Similar training centres of the NDE, Barrister have also been built across Nnamdi Asomugha, said the country," he added.