‘Farmers must adopt new technologies for profit’

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture is committed to refocusing the agricultural sector by educating farmers on the right technologies to adopt during production, processing, packaging and marketing. The Director, Extension Services of the Ministry, Dr. Karima Babangida, made this known during the 2019 Annual National Agricultural Extension Review and Planning Meeting held at the National […]

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture is committed to refocusing the agricultural sector by educating farmers on the right technologies to adopt during production, processing, packaging and marketing.

The Director, Extension Services of the Ministry, Dr. Karima Babangida, made this known during the 2019 Annual National Agricultural Extension Review and Planning Meeting held at the National Agricultural Extension Research and Liaisons Services (NAERLS) of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

The meeting with theme: ‘Paradigm Shift for a Sustainable Agricultural Extension Delivery System in Nigeria,’ was meant to redirect how agriculture is practiced in Nigeria through the effective use of extension services.

Dr. Babangida, who was represented by Dr. Nngozi Odunze, said collaboration between government and private organisations could facilitate easy access to technologies by farmers and the result would be improved food productivity across the country.

The Vice-Chancellor of ABU, Professor Ibrahim Garba, said that before Nigeria attained her independence, the country was the leading producer of groundnut, cocoa and cotton.

Represented by Professor Zubair Abubakar, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration), Garba stressed the need for all stakeholders to rise up to the challenge of reviving the agricultural sector for growth and development.

The Director, NAERLS, Professor Mohammed Khalid Othman, said the institute had always been in the forefront in the promotion of government policies, disseminating proven technologies to agricultural stakeholders through effective extension delivery services.

He said the National Farmers’ Help Line that was launched two years ago is fully operational with many success stories, saying that the main objective of the meeting was to review the 2019 extension activities and plan for the 2020.