Plateau extension agents urged to change tactics in agric devt

The Commissioner for Agriculture in Plateau State, Dr Hosea Finangwai, has called on agricultural extension workers to change their tactics in communitybased and rural agricultural development, as well as the transfer of pertinent knowledge to farmers at the grassroots.

Finangwai spoke in Jos, the Plateau State capital, at a training workshop for agricultural extension agents and communitybased facilitators/advisors, organised by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Department of Agricultural Extension Services).

The commissioner said one of the major challenges in the agricultural sector was lack of priority and attention to major players, who are the extension workers. According to him, no matter the ideas, researches and discoveries in agriculture, without extension workers to take it down to farmers at the grassroots, it would amount to efforts in futility; hence the need to train them.

In his remarks, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Muhammed Sabo Nanono, said agricultural extension had metamorphosed from one stage to another, and it is important in rural and semiurban development, as well as for food and job supply in a fast growing population, especially in emerging economies like Nigeria.

Represented by the chief agric officer of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Dorathy Botar, the minister said the training, which was in batches, would empower the extension workers with knowledge that would enhance service delivery to farmers, both in terms of production practices and equipment for technical support.