The Agricultural Media Resources and Extension Centre (AMREC) of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), in collaboration with the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), Abuja,

has empowered over 100 farmers and students with skills in the production of high quality maize seeds for planting.

The empowerment programme was carried out during a ‘field day’ organised for farmers and students in Imala community in Abeokuta South Local Government Area of Ogun State.

The event, coordinated by the Director of AMREC, Professor  Carolyn Afolami, had in attendance no fewer than 120 participants comprising farmers,  the Extension Agent from the Ogun State Agricultural Development Programme (OGADEP) covering Imala community, representatives of secondary school students and primary school pupils.

The field day was part of the activities carried out by AMREC under the “Community Seed Extension Project,” sponsored by the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), Abuja. The main objective of the project was to teach farmers how to produce high quality seeds for planting with a view to boosting their agricultural production. Participants were also exposed to various techniques of producing certified seeds, as well as post-harvest activities in seed production.

In her welcome address, the Director of AMREC, Professor Afolami, while appreciating the efforts of the  NASC, stressed the importance of high quality seeds in crop production as  she differentiated between seeds and grains and implored  farmers to utilize the knowledge gained in the field day to improve their agricultural production. She encouraged them to diffuse the innovation to other farmers in their respective communities. She added that the training would further strengthen the knowledge of  farmers in seed production, adding that, it has invaluable potentials to alleviate poverty. The expert saw the project as another milestone in the efforts of AMREC toward addressing some of the problems of agricultural development, food self sufficiency and poverty alleviation in Nigeria.

Professor Afolami concluded that FUNAAB as a university with mandate in teaching, research and extension services had over the years been involved in various projects aimed at stemming the tide of increasing food shortages, moribund economic situation and unemployment.

In his own address on behalf of Imala community, the Omala of Imala, Oba  Olabode, noted that the field day would boost the knowledge and skills of the farmers in the community and give them additional impetus to increase their agricultural production and income. The monarch commended the efforts of AMREC in collaborating with the NASC to implement the project.

He expressed the readiness and the positive disposition of the people of Imala community towards agricultural innovations, stressing that his people have no other work than farming.

The monarch further expressed confidence in the intervention of AMREC in his domain,  as he recalled the benefits the people of Imala community had derived from AMREC through projects such as; Soyabean Production and Popularisation, Farm Family Health Project and Cassava: Adding Value for Africa (C:AVA) Project.

Oba Olabode also discouraged the reliance on the Northerners for the production and supply of staple food crops  just as he expressed the readiness of Imala people to form farmers’ cooperative societies and cultivate at least 50 hectares of rice in the 2012 planting season.

The farmers’ representative, Pastor Bode Oyenekan, who is also the Vice Chairman, Rice Farmers’ Association of Nigeria, Ogun State chapter, commended the gesture of the the organiser and sponsors of the project, while lauding the commitment of the Imala community farmers  to agricultural project brought to them and their cooperation with AMREC for the success of the project.