Minister asks ABU to commercialise agric research findings

Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has urged research institutes under the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria to commercialise their research findings. He said doing this would serve as means of sustaining the institutes without government intervention and assist Nigeria’s growth and development. Speaking during a facility tour of  the institutes that include […]

Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has urged research institutes under the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria to commercialise their research findings.

He said doing this would serve as means of sustaining the institutes without government intervention and assist Nigeria’s growth and development.

Speaking during a facility tour of  the institutes that include Institutes for Agricultural Research (IAR), National Agricultural Research and Liaisons Services (NAERLS) and National Animal Production

Research Institute (NAPRI), Lokpobiri said the commercialisation of research would also fast-track agricultural productivity in Nigeria.

He added; “this is what the western nations are doing. A country like China is doing the same thing. Take your research outputs to the public; we will help you to do so. This will certainly grow our

economy.  The present administration has increased budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector and this would be sustained.”

Lokpobiri also disclosed the readiness of the government to encourage collaboration between research institutes and donor agencies in order to make more funds available for researches.

He appealed to industries and other stakeholders in the sector to patronise domestic research outputs rather than import similar ones.

He said ABU is known for research breakthroughs not only in Nigeria but in the whole of Africa.

Earlier, Professor Ibrahim Umar Abubakar, the Director of IAR, said the vision of the institute was to be an agricultural centre of excellence through the generation and dissemination of innovative technologies to farmers and other stakeholders.

The Directors of NAERLS and NAPRI, Professors Mohammed Khalid Othman and Clarence Lakpini, respectively, emphasised the need for more support for the institutes to make meaningful contributions in the development of Nigeria’s agricultural sector.