Don advocates inter cropping, re-establishment of Commodity Boards to mitigate prices.
In a bid to achieve food sufficiency and to hedge escalating edible prices in Nigeria, a University Don, Prof.
Enejo Simon Attah, of the Prince Abubakar Audu University, Anyigba, has advocated for inter cropping and the need to make Agriculture attractive to the people.
This is just as he called for the establishment of commodity boards to serve as sales
point for the farmers’ produce,in order to eliminate middle men for farmers getting their fair prices.
Attah, a Professor of Crop Production made the disclosure during the 12th inaugural lecture of the University with the topic, inter cropping: That there may be enough food,
especially at the level of the peasant farmers who constitute about 90% of the labour force in the sector and who produce the
bulk of what is consumed in this country.
Prof. Attah called on Government to as a matter of
priority, re-establish the commodity boards to serve as sales
point for the farmers’ produce, pointing out that this will help reduce or eliminate the activities of middlemen in the
country with farmers getting fair share of their labour.
Similarly, the University Don urged for deliberate diversification of crop intensification in small-scale production to increase yield levels and improve the nutrition status of the people.
He called for the encouragement and participation of youths in agricultural activities, said a lot of young people see agriculture as tiresome
and a profession that gets their hands dirty.
He however said with
mechanisation and intensification, more people particularly the young people will be
attracted into the sector, thus helping to reduce the problem
of ageing farm workers, youth unemployment, increased food
production and increased foreign exchange earnings from exports.
He called on Government and other interest groups (States and Federal
Ministries of Agriculture, Non-governmental Organisations,
Universities, and the National Universities Commission etc) to support the training and empowerment of people who
are genuinely interested in agriculture, to be future farmers in
Nigeria.
He called on Universities and Faculties of
Agriculture to set up agricultural enterprises that are
business and profit oriented for students to engage in as work in the course of their studies.
Prof. Enejoh identified a number of challenges that have
inhibited effective agricultural policies and strategies in the
country, mentioned unstable and inconsistent policies,
poor educational background of peasant farmers and
low usage of agrochemicals like fertilizers which greatly hampers
production.
Furthermore, he listed the unwillingness of young men to take to farming, corruption and associated practices and climate change.
In her remarks, the Vice Chancellor, Prince Abubakar Audu University Anyigba, Prof. Marietu Tenuche Ohunene, described the topic of discuss as apt, pointing out that the need for food sufficiency in the country and in view of the food shortage being experienced in the Country, calls for innovation.
