15
Nigerian Tribune Tuesd ay.
3 January. 2012
Day AMREC, NASC empowered rural farmers for better output lE Ag~ILural Media Resources and Extension Centre IA~ IRECI of the Federal University of
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Agriculture. AbcokulS (FUNAAB). In coUaboraUon wlUI Ule Nallonal Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC). AbuJa. has emp:lweret! over 100 farmers and students wlth skills In the producUon of high quality maiZe Sttds for planting. The empowennent programme W3scanicd out during a 'field day' organIsed for fam\ers and s tudents In lmala community In AiJcokuta Soulh Local GO"'1::mmenl Area of agun Slate. The evellt. (.'O:>mlnatcd by the Director of AMREC. Professor Carolyn Molaml. had hi attendance no fewer
than 120 participants compris ing farmers. the Extens ion Agen t from the agun Slale Agri cultural De \'e!opment Programme (OCADEPI co\'crtng Imala community. n: jl rcscnlallves of secondar y sc hool students uJld primary school puplls. TIle field day was part of the a cUvlUes carried out by AMREC under I.h e ~Communlty Seed Extension Project. ~ s ponsored by lbe NaUonal AgrIcultural Seeds Council (NASCI. AbuJa_ The main objttUve of the project was to leach famlcrs how to produce high qualily seeds for planung with a view 10 boosting Ihelr Agrtruhllnll produc Uon. Partictpants were also e.xposed to various ttthnlqucs of productng certified s«ds. as well as postharvest acl.JvlUes In .seed producUon. In her "dcome address, the DIrector of AMREC. Professor Molam!. whlle appreciaUng the cfforts of the NASC. stre'ised Ule Importance of high quality seeds tn crop production as s he diffe rentiated bet.ween seeds and grains and Implored fanners to utilize Ule kn owledge gained In t he fidd day to Improve their agrlcultuml production. S h e. encou raged Ih e m to diffuse the Innovation to o ther farmers i n thei r respeclive communitks. Sh~ added that the lrnUllng .....ouJd furthe r
disposItio n of tile people of Imala commu n ity to wards agricultural Inn ova ti o n s . str essi n g that his people have no oth e r \...ork than fanning. The monarc h further expressed confide nce In the Inter\'CnUon of AMREC In hts doma in . as h e recalled Ihe benefits the people of Imala community had derl\'Cd from AMREC through projects such as: Soyabe3.l 1 Production and Popularlsallon . Farm FamUy Health Project and Cassava: Adding Value for MJ1ca IC:AVA) Project. abo. Olabode also discouraged Ule n:liance -The Direc tor. Agricultural Media Resou.rces o.nd E.lctenslon ~ntre (AMREC), 011 Ule Northerners for the Professor (Mrs) Carolyn Afolabl (middle), e xpl a .lning some points tofo.rm- produc tion and supply of ers o n a maize farm.. slaple food crops jus t as almed at s lemmblg the IIde oftncreastng food Shortages. he expressed Ule n:aduless of Imala peoplc to fonn fanners' eooptr.1U\'C sodetles 3.lld culUvate at least 50 mortbWld cconomk sltu a Uon and unemployment. In his own address o n behalf of Imata communi ty. hectares of nce In Ule 2012 planUng season. TIle fanner.;' repn:scnlath1:. Pastor Bode Oyenekan. lhe Omala of Imala. abo Olabode. not.ed tha t Ule Ocld day ....'Quld boost the knowledge and s kills of the wh o Is olso the Vice C h ai rm a n . Rice Farme rs ' fanners In Ule communit y and give them addlUonal AssocIaUon of Nigeria. OgWl Slate chapter. commended Impetus 10 Increase their agricultural producuon a nd the gesture of the Ule organiseI' and sponsors of Ihl' Income. The mo narch commended tile efforts of AMREC project, while laudtng the commitment of t he 1111:11; 1 tn collaborati ng with the NASC to Implem ent the conUllunlty fanners ' to agricultural project brou d ot " . them and thetr coopera.Uon with AMREC for Uli' "1" •. ~~ project. He exp ressed th e readiness and the positive of the projttL
~~u::;"~,':~db~;ti;;'~~~
F00 d secun'tYprogramme sh0 uld also targe t healthy ~00 dS -Don
has Invaluable potenUals to allevlat.e poverty. The expert saw the project as another ml1estOlle In Ule efforts of AMREC toward addreSSing some of the problems of agricultural deve lopmen t. food se lf sbrnCleney and pove rty alleviation In NI!,'Crta. Professo r Afolaml concluded UlatFUNAABas a universi ty wUh mandate In teachIng. research and extension services h ad o \'er the yeal·s been Im'Oh"Cd In vartoU3 projects
A i ,Professor of agrIcu1 nm:.VeronJcaAdcotibatolu. has urged Nigerians to s u pport the Federa l Gove rnm e nt 's effort and d esl.re to ac h ieve food sufficiency and security so that food can be on tlle tables of Nigerians. She also sa.ld achlevIng food security should no l be Ihe only ta rget. but the coun try must a lso be able to boast of healthy foods . lhe don dlsdo5cd th1s In
s~ngthen
U}e knowledge
Ibadan. O)'Q Stale. rTX:Cluy. \\1l11eta1klngonthctmper.tUve ofprodUcls developlnmt and resean::h. which she dc· scr\bcd as a major Index In food sc:curity pro-granune of N!ger1a and oU'Ier naUons In AfrIca llleProclUClOe\d:Jpmcnt Research Pro-gramme (PORPI expert at the InsUlute of ~twa1 Rcsealdl andTralnlrl!:~l1AJxtIa -
Ganga. lbadan. O)'Q Slate. Is flO doubt U11lt IOod Insecurity dln:ctlywrrc!ales wtth pm'Crty arxJ agt-
i\I3kL -t1'ICfC
culturn1 bxI pnx.tucttn but pnxtuc:t~tplaysa
D1tJcal role In ensuring In-
crease s helr-Ilfe and stablltslngqualltybyoptJmlZtrig nulTlUonal value to keep CYCI)UleaJt.oe,anO'.oaIlg;:nls IOrIixdSC'CW1ly. poo,myalle\1atJon. and 5US(a!nabIc co>nomlcpVlh aldilrermtlevds.- she stated On the' COlTelauon beIween a heal thy food and food secu rity. Professo r Obatolu asscncd that while Ulere Is an InCltlSing demanti for romUllenoe foods
such 8$ rmdy meals In fast foodc:entrestontlnwtlhour busy U~ then then: Is also thenccd to be mon:awarder.: of the risks of too high consumptlOncl5uchmca.lwhlch often tbnes Is high In sail and saturnlcd trans fals. ~ 1UrtiY.r. she ctpIaIncd lhat In m:ent I:imes. U'ICfC we~ SC\~ Int~tIrg approaches foc the developmcnt of heal U1Y food prodocts. ProdU(:t de\'Ck¥nen t ~ search. Silt alIlnned. could tc:tplollnddlfllall100Janxbe-
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'Donlt condemn inorganic- fertiliser to promote organic type'
P
RACTISING farm - fertiliser. ~rs Inb the ~u nt~ According 1.0 hlm . ~1 can lave een a vise lell you IDat the use of orto InFrease tllbeir output ganJc fertiliser o n my fa nn and make use f approprt- boosted my Income and ate fann Input!: a nd tech- mnde me laughed to bank. nology at Ule lighl Ume If '·lonesUy. , am proud to teU Uley are desirous of bel- }'Ou lhls tesUmonybccause ter Incomej I 'm a fulfllied fanner In the An afarl ult.ule expert year 2011. If I could make and a arme r. 1.lr SCUll a profitofo\uN300.000on Oladokun-+woytnfa. galle polato harvest alone. you these wo~ds u r a~vl se am Image what my proDI whll~ condl;'-cting Tribune wouJd be on other crops Uke gncultu,re round his maize. cassava a nd vegfann to 5110/ case how he elables. was ab.le l to ac hi eve Speaking on how he gat bumper harvest wiU, Ule 10 know Ule ad\'aJltag<:s of use of organic fertJll.s<::r. organiC fer tiliser. The farnler e .. plalned Oladok un-A.....oylnfa s aid IDat he was able 10 make a he got to k now orga nic profit of dose to three hun- fertUlser through a friend. dred tho l ls anl l naira who was a lso a cassava (N300,OOO) on polato fann- fanner ~ In Abeokuta. lng alone In the year 201 1 Ogun State. adding Ulat he after he made use ..of the lesU..-l01'to (eliln love r with ~ ga nlcfertll1ser COD"r--..... ,mo nyo hlslriendwhenhe p revious years that he s howed hIm thechc:que he u sed only I"orga nlc got from a customer who
boughl tons . f harvested cas sava tubers planted wl Ul organic fertlllser. The fanner further explalned U13t he got. beller Infonnatlon abou t organic fertiliser when he had U1l: opportunity of partklpat Ing In OIl a~rlcullun: COIl ferences herd In Adamawa and Nasarawa S ta tes tha t ycor. -It Is a good Ullng UJ.31 famlel'S In the Northern prutsof UlCCOUIlllyaIl!famUiar \\ith organiC fertiliser and Itsath'3.l1lagts. But It l'i a sad Ihlng that many 0 [perlSaIl!carnpa.lnlrf;foctllC adoptionclorganlcfcrt.lliser. yet. some experts ar'C also laulUng the campaign. "llhInklirebest thlnglO do Is to encourage pmcUsIng famlCrs In Ule countr)'. especially those tn the SOUUlefT\ part ofUle country. toadoptorgarucrcrtlliser because lIle merit far out-
weigh the demerits which some people all! agaJnst 01" faulung.~
Speaking further. the ranner called on the state go\'Cmmenls to 1n\'CSt 011 Ule establis hment organic fertiliser pl ant company In stead of dependIng solc ly on Inorganic fertiliser. whic h Is often Imporled with attendant high prices. stressing that "despite billions of naira Ule Federal Gove rnment claimed to be spend ing on the Im portatio n of fertiliser. It Is nol avaUable andaccesslbleformanyNIgertan fanners: he slated. lie also tasked government to make available otherfannb!pUtsnc:edcdby fanners 1.0 achIeve bumper ha ....'CSt_ -Wellecd n V'IIV'Vtop~ ._ ' - J Uce fann in!! because one cannot 1.:" 11 ,lu romrnerda.I fanning Withou t adequate
twc~nnDnwlatir~bxlpOO-
ucts to rcduce JcwhdsalL saturnt«J or tJan!I rats. \\hlk: Uldr functional rtlIcs \\ithtn b:x1 p1XhJcts ~ 11Illost. i'l'ansorsaturatedfaLAr Instance, play an important roIebunalntalnlrlganam:pI ' able texture In food pn"h "'I~ AllernaU\~bmu1ati" '~ ,,~I proctSSinglOachie\'t" , I~.h
Sired texture mukJ be u ..n l when It ls ncccssary 10 COlli' pletely ellmJnale lhls runeUOnaI group dfood romponent from a meal. -Also salt 0JUkI be use ful In law~ring water actMty
Meanwhile. a fertilise expert. Mr Scott Wallace, \\'h Ufj~ reac" """ 10 the success's tory'dlrganle fenu tz.er said alt.h6iJgh 11 Is good for farnllml to make use of"2lUllC feniliscr In on::Ier acTlleve good fann Ing n:suit. but It \\'Qn't be fair to trigl tI d I -
pcmnl 'pollas, and In~ creases dough stabillty in ~. she emphastsedCOllllmentreonh::rcOsc:r-\'allons on the dlet;s of I"(gtrians In nx:r:ol time. the • culture lecturer said that she dt!aJ\~ that CIItlCSSI\'C ellel&Vansumplion andcbeslty were m~ as nulTltkJn probIcrm In N~ and strntegles areU 'l.101Uyneeded to IKklress these hroIth pn:b-
fertilIserWOuldpnxlu!betler )1eld orbumpcr han~l - Fanners are e ncouraged to augu mentthe where It Is necessary Organlc fertiliser Is and Inorganic type Is a lso needed and necessarv. - Out we cannol condemn all type slm I because th~re Is a g~ lesul mo nya bou t a no"' r--~c Iype . BO lh have been proven to be good and ef fectlve .
lerns. -Research can Increase WlderstandingoCUlClmpacl or spectJk: food components an health. thus. leading to new product innovation In the area dfunctlonal foc:xh ror fOod secur1ly. Examples of s uc h de vc:lopment Inelude. pro-bloUc baetena IargeHedatboasUnglmmun lty. pn:-blotle earbohydrates 10 selectively feed "",,"Iybacteria In thegul and dalry peptldes 10 help m:1uoe: bklod pressun:,- she posited.
fi..lnd-
;e!tll~~r e~~es~;:; ko~nJc U bl d' f both _ a~lc 1C a ne:; ~nor a:~e
good
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