Agriculture: Stakeholders Underscore Importance Of Extension officers, veterinary sevice

Stakeholders in the agriculture sector have contended that agriculture extension officers, veterinary doctors, and technicians remain relevant today more than ever before in order to guarantee food security in Nigeria.

In their responses to a survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states on the imperatives of agriculture extension and veterinary service to ensure food security in Nigeria, the stakeholders said that the two services were now particularly important since Nigeria’s monolithic economy dependent on petroleum products was no longer sustainable.

The stakeholders also called on the federal and state governments to ensure adequate security for farmers in order to guarantee food security.

Dr Femi Ojo, a Senior Lecturer, Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, Ile-Ife, called on government to employ more agricultural extension officers for more effective services.

Ojo said that during the first republic, agriculture was a mainstay of Nigeria’s economy, and a high premium was placed on agricultural productivity.

“We should not forget also that the major foreign exchange earning for Nigeria as at that time was basically from agriculture. Agriculture produced more than 70 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP.

“Then, the South-West states were known for cocoa, the North had groundnut pyramid, while the South-East states have palm oil  in high quantity and exported to other countries.

“It was the earnings from  agriculture that the western government used to build Cocoa house, in Ibadan and even the  Obafemi Awolowo University le-Ife and other infrastructure,” he said

Ojo bemoaned  the neglect of agriculture after the discovery of crude oil in the early 60s and 70s.

He said that in the 70s, when government still placed high premium on agriculture, government established farm settlement, with the aim of developing the rural areas in order to stop migration of youths to the urban centres.

“Former military Head of State, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo and President Shehu Shagari were commended for establishing  laudable agricultural programmes such as ‘Operation Feed the Nation’ and ‘Green Revolution‘.

“The farm settlement kept farmers and youths in the rural areas, but after the discovery of crude oil, attention was shifted from agriculture to oil revenue, white collar jobs and people started migrating from rural areas to urban centres,” he said.

Mrs Adegbemisola Fayoyin, the Permanent Secretary, Osun Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, however, said that the state had been supporting farmers to improve production through its agricultural extension programmes.

In an interview with NAN, Fayoyin said that the government still provided agriculture extension agents who educated farmers with innovative and trending research findings to improve their farms.

“The state is making all efforts towards extending some support to farmers  in the area of seedling and other modern farm inputs for improved farming system.

”Also, necessary information needed in the area of pest and disease control, better livestock control and improved water management is made available to farmers,” he said.

According to her, the state government is also doing everything possible to ensure that agricultural extension loopholes experienced in the past were prevented.

NAN/Shakirat Sadiq