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A former Executive Director of the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T) Ibadan, Professor Ebenezer Adebowale, has disclosed that the institute has trained several thousands of farmers from 26 countries.
Adebowale who was the Executive Director of the institute between 2003 and 2008 made this disclosure while delivering a lecture on ‘IAR&T past, present and future: impacts and challenges’, as part of the activities to mark IAR&T’s 50th anniversary, on Wednesday.
Adebowale while speaking added that IAR&T has also trained Heads of States, Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, top civil servants, including a former President of Nigeria, Chief Obasanjo on different agriculture enterprises.
He maintained that IAR&T has identified, characterized, classified major soils in South-West, part of Plateau, Benue, Kwara, Kano, Bauchi states for land use planning with emphasis on their agricultural production potentials.
Adebowale said that the institute, in the last 50 years, also provided systematic mapping of major soils in South-West with the production of a soil map at a semi-detailed level.
He remarked that it developed varieties of maize crops including Christened Oloyin, which contained higher protein than the ordinary maize sold in the market.
The Animal Scientist added that its works on soyabean was legendary in terms of breeding, production as well as nutrition, while emphasizing that its researches were economically viable as well as environmentally friendly.
“Two new varieties of kenaf crop (Ife Ken100 and Ife Ken400) were also developed by mutation breeding; Kenaf if well developed can revolutionalise newspaper industries and conserve foreign exchange.
“IAR&T also trained Heads of States, Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, top civil servants, including President Obasanjo on different agriculture enterprises.
“IAR&T has trained thousands of farmers from over 26 nations across the entire length and bredth of the universe,
Adebowale further urged the institute to focus on knowledge economic research, that is research that could generate wealth as well as prosperity for the people.
He urged them to make sure that the remaining soils in some states yet to be identified were identified, characterized and classified.
Another lecturer, a Professor of Agric Extension, Professor Johnson Arokoyo, who spoke on the overview of 30 years of Research Extension Farmers Input Linkages (REFILS), called for private sector participation in the system.
He advocated pluralistic funding of the system by Federal, State as well as Local Government Areas.
“Key stakeholders operatives must have budget line for REFILS activities, a national REFILS screening committee should be established, non-critical REFILS activities (zonal tech steering committee) should be removed,”
Earlier, the Assistant Food, Agricultural Organisation (FAO) representative in Nigeria, Mr Hammed Matini, said IAR&T played major role in tackling the army worm which ravaged maize farms in the country.
“The institute has really made giant strides in the agricultural development of the nation through its research, that’s why FAO is partnering them”.
IAR&T is a multi-commodity national research institute that served as a national center for research on improvement of genetic potentials of crops, livestock.
It also has mandate to conduct research into efficient use, management of soil resources for increased, sustainable agricultural productivity, among others.
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