Gombe State: Agriculture Ministry trains 30 Extension Agents on food production

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has trained the first batch of 30 Extension Agents in Gombe State to enhance service delivery in food production and technical support for farmers.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Muhammadu Sabo Nanono, who was represented by the State Director of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Musa Mohammed Inuwa, said the ministry was desirous of seeing an agricultural extension delivery system that meets global competitiveness to ensure adequate food for Nigeria’s population.

According to him, the 4-day training is one of several strategies planned by the Ministry to halt the drift in the agricultural extension system.

He, however, said due to Covid-19, the scheduled training for 75 thousand extension workers nationwide had been segmented into batches, to ensure compliance with the Covid-19 Safety Protocols.

Consequently, the training is beginning with 30 participants per state and the Federal Capital Territory.

It would also provide the extension agents with tools that would help them give more practical services to farmers thereby increasing efficiency and income.

The training programme has been designed to empower extension agents with the needed skills in the use of extension delivery methodologies and tools, as well as the best global practices in the agricultural value chains.

The Ministry said that the fortunes of the agricultural extension system had declined, thereby affecting food production, triggering unemployment, youth restiveness and economic instability.

Dr Inuwa said the growing population had prompted the need to have vibrant Agric Extension agents, who would drive the needed peace and progress in the country.

“It is predicted that in the next 30 years, by 2050, Nigeria is going to be the 3rd largest country in the world in terms of population, 12 hundred million in the same piece of land. People are increasing, their life is decreasing because of the demand for land. So, we want our farmers to produce food productively. In a small hectare or size of land, we should double what you are harvesting. So, we want the nation to be coached by enough extension agents that can educate our rural farmers who will feed the whole country. To be more precise, how to produce any crop productively,” Dr Inuwa said.

The Director, Federal Department of Agricultural Extension at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture ad Rural Development, Mr Frank Satumari Kudla, said the 4-day sessions would provide the extension agents with necessary logistics and reference manuals to meet emerging technologies, innovations and practices in the sub-sector.

Mr Kudla who was represented by Mr Yusuf Haruna Atuman from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development stressed that the training would reach out to private extension agents as well.

“This 75 thousand Extension agents are not only limited to the public extension agents service providers, but the training will also be extended to private extension agents providers in the country. This is the maiden edition of this training,”  Atuman stated.

The participants are expected to conduct step-down training and prepare for future capacity building, input services and technology support to their farmers.

The Permanent Secretary, Gombe State Ministry of 8, Mr. Obal Yaji, said the training was focusing on the enhanced production of three crops, Maize, Rice and Soya Beans.

“There are new techniques which are involved in the three crops I have mentioned. One is the machinery being used for all the crops I have mentioned. One in cultivation, two in weeding and even in harvesting. All these techniques are being taught on how our farmers in rural areas will use to improve crop production,” Mr. Yaji said.

Programme Manager of the Gombe State Agricultural Development Program, Mr. Laban Binus Maina, highlighted the importance of extension agents in having high yield in a small piece of land.

He said although more extension agents were going to be trained; part of the training was a session for a discussion on how each agent would step down the knowledge, they acquired from farmers.

“You will go to your cell and deliberately pick your contact farmers and then the training begins from there. And that one continues for as long as they are civil servants they will continue to train and you expect these persons to train other people by geometric progression,” Mr Maina explained.

There were, however, appeals from different quarters at the training for the employment of more extension agents to spread the knowledge gained to more farmers, so that the country would be sufficient in food for domestic consumption and exportation.

PIAK