Ministry holds workshop on agrochemicals in Gombe

Speaking at the workshop recently, the chairman, Mohammad Bello, said agrochemicals have a major role in agricultural development as they are used by farmers to grow bigger fruits, vegetables and brighter flowers.He said agrochemicals inject much nutrients such as nitrogen or potassium directly in the soil to help plants grow. Different types of herbicides kill […]

Speaking at the workshop recently, the chairman, Mohammad Bello, said agrochemicals have a major role in agricultural development as they are used by farmers to grow bigger fruits, vegetables and brighter flowers.
He said agrochemicals inject much nutrients such as nitrogen or potassium directly in the soil to help plants grow. Different types of herbicides kill unnecessary weeds, allowing only the plants of choice to grow without competition for food, adding that they make the plants poisonous to insects and other creatures that attempt to eat the leaves or fruits.
Bello said it is important to remind the agricultural extension workers from time to time on the importance and use of agro chemicals in agricultural production.
“It is important for the extension worker and the farmer to know the agricultural value, needs for practicing sustainable agriculture in a way that it will not harm the environment,” he said.
In a paper titled: “Problems of Obsolete Pesticides and the Need for Inventorisation of Pesticides”, presented by Prof. Folorunso A. Ajayi of the Department of Agric Entomology/Crop Protection, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, he said knowing the chemical family of pesticides can help in selection of pesticides that will minimise the development of pesticide resistance, understand how the pesticide works, know what happens to it in the environment and be able to respond to emergencies.
He said for decades all over the world, pesticides have been used as a means to increase agricultural output, fight pest and control tropical diseases.
However, he noted that with increasing and prolonged use, negative impacts become noticeable such as increase of disease rate, infertility and sometimes death, or environmental impacts including contamination of local water supplies.