L _.not
IKEI used t o t e 11
until M: go baek to farnnng. we may not achieve OUT potential as a
country greatly endowed with both human and natural ~.
AgncultWl!
IS
the only solution to our proble:m and I want the able bodie:d youth to embrace: fanning.
<:hWf~
a. o.a".m.I (MONJ
P'roCIancI!IIor" and Olainnan, ~ Cowndl of F1JNAAB
oProfessor Oiusola Oyewole, Vice C1uvtcellor, FUNAAB E Importance of yam (Di~rea Ipp) as rood CTOp cannot be overemphasised in Nigcna as It 5c:TYc:l'II not only as a staple food , bUlas aeash
~
o
Chief Alani Suara Bankole
Oluwo lporn Ake and Scrilo Jagunmolu of:!:gbala.m, Ogun State
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ls is one agricultural lTad.Uon that abO.lld be supported,
encc:"-ra~eoi and aUltained. I would lik" other ..tniYcrslties to emulate what FU(iAAB it doing to promote: the culture of farn~ 18 among the citizenry because it will slimulate the interest of NigerianÂťmtha In agriculture.
Yam I ,nusL uy is a very important and appl'!clalct tuber crop in thlS countryllItCl in thiS part oflhe globe and everythina must be dODe to increase Ita production, marketing Bnd consumptlon. I "ant many Nigerians to embrace farmmg especla.Jly yam 'anning
DID . , U,
OW THAT... Eachjuntp of a large
kangaroo covers up to 0 feet.
oDr. Emeka AnyaDku Fonner ~tcuy . Gen.eraJ. Commonwealth of Nations E Yam Roasting Festival of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta IruNMBj, Ogun State, 15 a very important and Wlique programme. Then: is abo a yam festival usually celebraLed WI1h glamour and funfair in the part of the country where I come from.. But I must confess to you lhat FUNAAB highly impressed me the way they packaged their own yam festival prngnunme. Th iS il one university of agric:ultw'e that has distinguished itself tunOng others 10 the cowlUy and that is why I'm here to bonour their invitation and oeJcbmte With
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them. Agriculture is the mainstay of our IDlnomy and every thing must be done and put in place to boost the nation agricu.InJra.I aector. Yam is a veJ)'gpodandnutritiouailodtbatcan be used b'youthsempowermmtand eDJJ1OI1lk emancipotion.
IS university has already positioned itadf ID dJive and boost the Federal Government's tnlnsiJrmation lIFflda. especially as it relates to the: nation's agricultumJ sector" of the economy. TIle univenllly has produced many quality agricuIlUn! graduates who l f t domg wdI in thcuvanous fields of eodea'o'lJUT_ 1 want youtha to go into fanning.. The Yam Roosting FesuvaJ of FUNMB will soon attract national and International attention as it is rcspondtng to the IIOCio-culrural and tourism need of the society The contribution of the unive:nllty to agncultural marke:ts of both Ogun and Lagos states is very e:ncouraging and enonnous. We: would wanl many people to embrace farming. espec:ial.l.y yam produetion. because agriculture can be- uaed to trigger c:conomk: revolutJon of the: country . Therefore, other- uniVC:TSitie!J; should emulate FUNMB in the area of teachang, research and pubheprivate: seetor partne:rship for development purposes.
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=p. Indeed. It is one: of the: popular ar8bl(' CTOp c:JII:lenslVely cultivated he:re on our c:ampus for research among othen and it IS pertinent to say that the FUNAAB Yam Roasung Festival has fac ilitated and enhanced the town-gown relauonshlp. FUNAAB was established In January, 1988 , as ont: of the: three specialised agncultural Universities in Nigeria and the uniYc:TSity was estabh.shc:d With three- fold mandate; teaching, researc h and extension services . Ov= the YeaTS. the: univer.nty has take:n giant strides in revolutlonislng agnculrural education through the high quality graduates and through our research and extension activities However, in spite of the elTon of the university, agriculture is today still bemg faced With daunting challenges such as climate change and emerging pests and diseases. Government fimdmg of the universities in the country is grossly madequate to find solutions to these daunting challenges In this regard, the univcrsity needs the lIuppon of the: private see lor through collaboration and cooperation in research and extension to combat th('se daunting challenge:s_ Therefore, actIVe playcn In the: private sector are enjoined to promote researches In agriculture through rundmg. donation or equipment and collaboration This university is weU prepared to sustain the: qualitstive training of our students so as to make the:m self-reliant and prepare them to be: employe:rs of labour. Conllequt:ntly, the unlverslfy has established the Community Based Farming Schem(' ICOBFAS) and the Graduate Fanning Scheme IORADFESI. among other programmes to make: our youths becomejob-c:reators and sdI-n:liant . Not only that, the Umversity IS already positioning itsclr to drwc the Federal Cov('mme:nt lJ'ansfonnation agenda, particularly. the agriculture sub-sector of the ceonomy _ In view or this, we are taking the advantage of our 10,000 hccta.res land endowment for the culuvation of arable: and cash CTOpll suclt as yam, maize:., soybean, au.sava, rice. plantam, c:ashcw and oil-palm We also have: facilities ror the production of livestock and flShenes all geared toWards &Misting in the: increase of food production, food security and reduce poverty Furthennore, we wtUlt the youths a nd othe:r Nigerians to embrace fannmg now because it remams the only aolution toourc:conomk: problt:ms .