… As FCT revitalises Agric extension services to boost food production***
The National Rubber Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria, has pleaded with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to create credit schemes for the development of rubber and other long gestation crops.
This is contained in a communique the association issued in Abuja on Saturday at the end of its National Conference.
The theme of the conference is “Industrialisation of the Rubber Sub-Sector in Nigeria.
The association called on the Bank of Agriculture, Bank of Industry and NEXIM Bank, to be fully involved in the development of the rubber sub-sector.
The association said this could be done by making funds available for rubber development at friendly interest rates for small and industrial rubber farmers.
“Government should implement all the relevant policies already developed to boost the agricultural sectors.
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“Government should take up the responsibility to measure out modalities to assist in rubber production technology to further enhance the promotion and sustainability of the rubber sector.
“State governments should collaborate with the association in the development of rubber value chain in their states by making land available for the development of rubber plantations.
“Government should also increase agricultural subsidies to rubber farmers by the construction of smokehouses in clusters.
“This is for effective storage facilities, basic infrastructural facilities, agrichemicals and fertiliser to boost rubber production,” it said.
The association further called for regular training and workshops for rubber farmers and young students.
It also urged the government to provide grants and encourage soft loans at single-digit interest rates for rubber farmers;
“There is an urgent need for government to collaborate with the organised private sector to factor in aggressive programmes for the development of the rubber sector.
“This is due to the potential it has to contribute to the Nigerian economy and diversification efforts of the federal government for the sustainable development of the country.
“Government should also enhance the research institute sector, to enable them to develop technologies to improve the rubber sector.
“Government should expand and enhance the extension services to assist farmers in the rubber sector,” the communique said.
The association solicited the federal government’s intervention by providing 100,000 hectares of land in each state for rubber production.
The communique said that the participants commended the association for creating a platform for stakeholders to engage one another in discussions relating to the development of the rubber sub-sector.
The conference was organised by the association in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment; and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Other collaborators in the conference which was held from Oct. 21 to Oct. 22 were the Raw Materials Research and Development Council and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council.
The communique is signed by the president and secretary of the association, Mr Igbinosun Idowu-Peter and Mr Orimisan Ogunjumelo respectively.
In another development, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has stepped up measures to revitalise agricultural extension services to boost food production in the territory, an official has said.
A Director of Agricultural Development Project (ADP) in the FCT, Mr Innocent Ajaefobi, said this on Saturday in Gwagwalada at the closing of the three days training programme organized by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The director, represented by the Acting Head, Extension Sub Programme, Mr Ude Ekele said the training, organised by the Federal Government was to revitalise agricultural extension services.
He called on participants at the training programme for agricultural extension agents to ensure effective use of knowledge acquired.
He urged them to put in their best to ensure that they were accepted by the farmers and not to be seen as agents of politicians.
Ajaefobi called on them to be innovative, creative, resourceful and ensure the application of scientific knowledge in the discharge of their duties as extension agents.
He urged farmers to relate with extension agents as persons coming to impact knowledge to increase their productivity and not agents of politicians.
Some of the participants, who spoke with the newsmen, commended the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for organising the training programme.
Mrs Deborah Anigo, one of the participants said the training was a welcome development adding that such opportunity had never been granted to extension agents for a very long time.
She said the programme was impactful, adding that with the training, the extension agents were better equipped to transfer knowledge to the farmers.
Anigo called for the sustainability of the training programme and urged the government to provide necessary tools for the farmers to enhance their productivity.
Mr Samuel Odoh, another participant said the training programme was a step in the right direction to better equip the extension agents in the discharge of their duties.
He said the knowledge acquired would help the extension agents in the reorientation of farmers on their wrong notion about extension agents’ visits to communities.
Odoh said the expectation of farmers that the responsibility of extension agents was to provide money and farm input was wrong.
According to him, the responsibility of extension agents is to advise the farmers on how to go about their production with their input and not the extension agents providing the inputs.
NAN recalls that 40 extension agents drawn from the six area councils in the FCT were trained in the programme which simultaneously took place in the 36 states of the country.
