An Agronomist, Mr Oladapo Babatude has stressed the need for enhancement of facilities in the nation’s agricultural research institutes as part of measures to boost production in the country.
Babatunde, a retired lecturer at Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Ilorin.
He said that with vast arable land and population of more than 200 people, Nigeria has the capacity to be a force to reckon with in agricultural production in the world.
Babatude, who currently engaged in tuber and root crops production, said that the Federal Government should invest heavily in the upgrading of facilities in agriculture research centers.
He said that such could turn around the fortune of farmers and create millions of jobs.
“Most agricultural research institutes in the country still operate with obsolete facilities and you do not expect these centres to come up with modern agricultural solutions, which will enable farmers match their counterparts elsewhere in agricultural production,” he said.
He stressed the need for training and retraining of staffers of the institutes and proper coordination of their activities.
“Most farmers are still practicing old agricultural system because they have been exposed to modern ways of doing things and until that is done, their outputs will continue to be very low.
“If farmers must do better, government and corporate bodies must look into the operations of the research institutes with a view to upgrading them because new techniques abound which will make farmers do better like in other climes,” he said.
Babatude named some of the institutes that require upgrade to include Agricultural Research and Management Training Institute (ARMTI) Ilorin, Nigeria Stored Product Research Institute ( NSPRI) Ilorin, and Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria,(CRIN) Ibadan, Oyo State etc.
He commended the Federal Government led by President Muhammadu Buhari for what “he is presently doing in the agricultural sector.’’
“The recent ban on the importation of foreign rice, and poultry products has impacted positively on the diversification of Nigeria’s economy from oil to agriculture,” he said.
Babatude advised Nigerian youths to show more interest in agriculture rather than wait endlessly for white collar jobs that `is not readily available’’
