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From Jude Owuamanam, Jos
The Chairman of the Board of the Niger Delta Basin Development Authority (NDBDA), Chief Bosin Boi Ebikeme, has advocated strong synergy between water basin development authorities and agricultural research institutes to enhance food production in the country.
This is even as the Provost of the Federal College of Veterinary and Medical Laboratory Technology (FCVMLT), Vom, Dr. Chukwu Chukwu, called for the establishment of more storage facilities to preserve and avoid wastage of agricultural produce.
Both spoke at the 69th Regular General Meeting of the National Committee of Heads of Colleges of Agriculture and Related Disciplines hosted by Federal College of Veterinary and Medical Laboratory Technology, Vom, near Jos, Plateau state.
His words: “Government envisages that agricultural-related agencies should be able to have a synergy that will complement each other. When we collaborate, if there is a synergy, it will enable us to bring our food, agricultural sector up to date and then, of course, provide enough food.
“There are people in this country who want to go into farming, but they don’t know what to do. They don’t know how to go about it. There are also people who think that farming is for the poor people.
“We should be proud to say we are farmers in Nigeria and produce enough food for our people, rather than depending on imported food that may not even be as good as what we produce in our country. And so that synergy cannot be overemphasized.”
In his own submission, the Provost of the College, said that to avoid wastage especially during periods of bumper harvest, more storage facilities should be established.
He noted that the Grain storage research institute in Ilorin was doing a fantastic work on the issue of food storage. He therefore stressed the need to establish more storage facilities throughout the country.
