Minister Tasks Universities On Agric Transformation

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr
Akinwumi Adesina has called on higher institutions of learning to play critical
roles in the nation’s agricultural transformation agenda.

The minister, who spoke while delivering the 2012 lecture of
the Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba-Akoko, in Ondo State said that
universities had a vital role to play in the current scheme.

He said universities, especially faculties of agriculture
needed to wake up to the reality around them.

Dr Adesina said only countries involved in commercial
agriculture and agriculture as a business have the chance of competing.

“We must change the way we train students, what we train
them on and what we prepare them for” he said.

He challenged the institutions on retraining of students to
become job creators and not job seekers.

He reiterated that the faculties of agriculture needed to
change their curriculum to be in line with the realities of the labour market
and prepare the students with practical technical and business skills they
would need to set up agribusiness.

“This will require linking of the faculties of agriculture
and business administration to set up agribusiness entrepreneurship centres.

“These centres should be used to provide technical farming
skills as well as agribusiness management skills for young commercial farmers”,
he said.

He also traced the low level of use of modern agricultural
technologies to lack of a functioning agricultural extension system.

“Strangely, since independence, Nigeria has not put in place
a federation system of agricultural extension and as a result there is a very
weak link between research and extension, we are addressing this” he said.