NCAM lauds growth in the Nigerian agricultural sector

Executive Director, National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation (NCAM), Ilorin, Kwara State, Dr. Yomi Kasali, has commended Nigeria for its breakthrough in the agricultural sector.

Kasali told reporters yesterday in Ilorin that the government empowered major agric institutes to bolster their potential for more innovations in the sector.

He stated the development was under-reported in many of the nation’s media, noting that it would be unfair if the breakthrough were left undocumented.

“At NCAM, for instance, our seasoned engineers had, in the last three years, trained over 1,000 fabricators, about 10,000 women and 20,000 youths on how to design and use numerous agricultural tools and machines on subsidiary and large-scale farming.

“This development and many others have led to more expansion in the field of farming across Nigeria. Our personnel had, at this period in review, moved round the country, teaching farmers modern techniques of large-scale planting and harvesting of rice, cassava and beans. With the interaction we normally have with our sister organisations, the story is similar,” he said.

Urging Nigerian farmers to join forces with the nation’s security outfits to fight insecurity bedeviling farming across some agric belts in the country, Kasali said that the challenges were surmountable.

For the NCAM boss, till date, the agriculture sector in any third world nation, Nigeria inclusive, remains the largest employer of labour.

He, therefore, urged state governors, National Assembly members and chairmen of the 774 local councils to complement the efforts of the Federal Government by sponsoring more youths to the institute for modern training in agric techniques.

S.S/The Guardian Nigeria