By Amos Tauna
A plant breeder and leader in Biotechnology research programme at the Institute for Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Professor Mohammed Faguyi Isiyaku, has opined that the potentials of research institutes are not properly harnessed by government to enhance agricultural production in the country.
If properly harnessed, he said, “l am sure they are going to take the agriculture of this country out of its wilderness.”
Speaking to AFRICA PRIME NEWS, Mohammed explained that the research institutes in the country have enormous capacity if they could be channeled appropriately by government and supported adequately.
He said, “Let cite Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, with the needed funds and incentives, what can this institute do towards ensuring food security in the country?
“Even at this level of sub optimum support from government, this institute has developed more than fourteen varieties of Cotton, forty-six varieties of Maize and Hybrids, about equal number of Sorghum varieties and about twenty-four varieties of improved Groundnuts with high productivity and agricultural machineries.
“Giving a higher level of support, l am sure, you are going to see even magic from this institution because the manpower is there, the capacity is there, what is required is some inputs to harness more out of them.”
Mohammed lauds the Buhari-led administration for giving agriculture a priority, stressing that it should be operated as a business so that it could yield money to the farmers and government.
He explained, “Agriculture should be something that will create wealth for the people of this country and there are people who are known to specialize in this direction.
“Our farmers have the capacity and the willingness to do what is expected of them to provide the raw materials and then the development of the appropriate industrial change that will process these products to higher value products and be marketed either across the West African sub-region or within our Nigeria or to other parts of Africa and possibly Europe by improving or increasing standard of the products.
“To be honest, the Nigerian agricultural institutions have contributed immensely to the development of agriculture in the country. They have generated technologies that if deployed appropriately and supported by the required incentive inputs, will be translated into huge increasing agricultural production and improve food security in the country.
“With the needed support given in agricultural sector, l see Nigeria feeding the whole of Africa and our agricultural products being the markets of some countries in Europe. We have all it takes to provide beef to Europe, oil based products and we have the opportunity to fill in the production deficits in various African countries requirements ranging from all manners of grains and other crops.”
