Fashion out activities helpful for food – VC

The Vice Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Prof. Eyitope Ogunbodede, has called for activities that can be helpful to farmers and other stakeholders in the business of food and raw materials production.

Ogunbodede made the call on Wednesday at the 2018 Annual In-house Review of the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), Ibadan.

Our reporter confirmed that the review had the theme: “Agricultural Research and Innovation for Sustainable Food and Industrial Raw Material Production’’.

The vice chancellor said that research institutes should fashion out relevant activities for food and raw materials distribution, preservation, product development and food security.

Ogunbodede said that the institutes should focus researches on renewable energies such as solar and windmill to mitigate climate change effects.

He said that researches should also focus on crop and animal production with flood, heat, drought and pest resistance.

The vice chancellor said that research should be farmer demand-driven, market-oriented, problem-solving, industrial-demanded and generally acceptable for high adoption.

Ogunbodede also said that education on the effects of climate change should form an integral part of school curriculum and be taught at all levels in agricultural science.

He said that subsidy on agriculture by governments should target farming activities that could stern the effects of global warming.

“The subsidy should focus on farming activities that can address water, energy and chemical changes of production environment.

“Nigeria will be food and nutritionally secure if government will promote a guaranteed market to farmers, and the activities of middlemen be removed from marketing of agro-materials and food crops.

“The Federal Government should legislate against free range of domestic animals that often willfully destroy farms, causing clashes between crop and livestock farmers (cattle herdsmen),” he said.

Earlier, the IAR&T Executive Director, Prof. James Adediran, said that the institute conducted a number of researches which were demand-driven and market-oriented in 2017.

“These are mainly in area of development of land information system and integrated soil management, varietal development in maize, kenaf, integrated pest/disease management in cowpea and maize.

“There was also genetic improvement of pigs, local chicken through artificial insemination, multi-locational trials to develop new technologies, improving diet to reduce incidence of diabetics in human, improving quality of soya products, among others,” he said.

Adediran said that IAR&T also participated in various externally-funded projects with good outcomes, adding that some improved varieties of maize, cowpea and soya bean seeds had been provided for farmers and other stakeholders.

He gave the assurance that the institute would continue with ongoing projects and propose new ones, as well as make more impacts on dissemination of research findings to the end users.

“Finally, we are also focusing on income generation activities that are sustainable, including transfer of improved technologies to promote entrepreneurship in agriculture,” he said.

In a lecture on “Post-harvest Handling of Food Crops in a Changing Climate: An Outlook on Food Research in IAR&T’’, a food scientist, Prof. Adetayo Ashaye, called for emphasis food fortification.

Ashaye said that food control systems should be developed and operated in accordance with fundamental principles including a food chain approach, risk analysis, transparency and involvement of concerned stakeholders.

The food scientist said that marketing companies and cooperatives were essential for handling produce and reducing post-harvest losses.

“Proper coordination of their activities is very important.

“In reducing post-harvest losses for vegetables, proper packing is required to ensure that they don’t lose freshness in the process of transportation; for roots and tubers, their processing/harvesting must be done timely and carefully,” he said.

Representatives of research institutes and other major stakeholders in agriculture attended the event during which awards were presented to some outstanding workers of the institute.

NAN

 

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