By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
Oyo State Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Hon. Adeniyi Adebisi has disclosed that the state government is set to support and integrate smallholder farmers into its development plan.
Hon Adebisi stated this on Friday at the opening of a 4-day training for Agric Extension Workers, organized by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, at OYSADEP Office, Apata, Ibadan.
The Commissioner declared that this was in accordance with the four points agenda of the Governor Seyi Makinde led administration in Oyo State, adding that this would spur productivity and enhance the quality of food consumed by the people in the state.
He stressed that the training was one of the ways of stemming the tide of the declining number and low skill of small scale farmers which has hampered the adoption of best practices and new innovations, resulting in low productivity and rejection of Nigerian products abroad.
The Commissioner promised the infusion of modern farming technology, financial assistance along with training and retraining of Oyo state farmers to engender quality assurance in the agricultural value chains.
Hon Adebisi however lauded the Federal Government for relentlessly improving and building capacity of farmers across the 36 states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory, as well as donating 3 motorcycles to Oyo State for Agricultural Extension delivery.
He maintained that the development will help smallholders overcome the teething challenges associated with farming, thereby alleviating poverty and unemployment, while also boosting food sufficiency.
Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammed Mahmoud Abubakar, represented by the Deputy Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaja Balikis Abdulateef said one of the key recommendations was to build the capacity of youths and existing practitioners in Agric Extension delivery system, exposing and equipping them with best global practices and tool to enable them deliver efficiently.
Dr Abubakar said Nigerians desire to see that our agricultural extension delivery system meets global competitiveness, to ensure we have adequate and quality food for our teeming population and some to augment our foreign earnings.
