Alliance between Farmers, Researchers would boost Food Security – Prof

A Professor of Crop Production, Professor Victor Olowe, has proposed an academic solution to food insecurity in Nigeria.

He calls for collaboration between researchers, arguing that this may cure the ignorance of many local farmers in crop production.

Prof Olowe lamented that most local farmers in the country lacked the needed knowledge and skill to be able to deploy technological gadgets on their farms.

He made his case for food security while delivering the 63rd Inaugural Lecture of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) with the theme “Unlocking the Production Potentials of Some Annual Oilseed Crops in Nigeria”

The lecture took place in the University premises on Wednesday.

Speaking further, Prof. Olowe said such alliance will assist Nigeria achieve food security.

He stressed that the inclusion of local farmers when a research topic is being conceived and planned for execution is essential for the growth of small to medium scale farm produce, which is about 90 percent of the food consumed in tropical Africa.

He also charged the Federal Government on the need to massively-invest in oil extraction and value addition technology in order to drive the growth of the vegetable oil sector and meet her National Consumption Requirement (NCR).

The Professor of Crop Production emphasised the need to increase the production levels of minor oilseeds in Nigeria, stating that this will help encourage production of the oilseeds with export potentials.

According to him, “if the country must meet her NCR in vegetable oil (3 million tonnes) and the deficit of over 600,000 tonnes, then the current production potential must be increased in order to drive the growth of the vegetable oil sector going forward”.