Institute Distributes Free Maize Seeds, Fertiliser To Farmers

The Institute of Agricul
    tural Research and Training (IAR&T), Ibadan on Wednesday said it has commenced distribution of free maize seeds and fertiliser to farmers in South West.
The institute’s Head of Programmes, Farming System Research and Extension Programme, Prof. Akin Oluwatosin,  disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Ibadan.
He said that the distribution commenced on March 24 and would last for one week.
Oluwatosin said the objective of the programme was to assist farmers around the institute’s out stations and adopted villages.
According to him, it is part of the institute’s contribution to the Federal Government’s transformation agenda.
“The maize variety is called 93-8, a good variety that the institute breeds.
“It was bred to be resistant to diseases like streak and it yields better than the varieties we had before.
“It’s an early maturing variety within two or three months.
“We also have other seeds to give later but the one we are promoting now is maize because this is the time to plant it.
“We feel that farmers are going to be on the field now to plant so they will be looking for seeds,” he said.
He noted that the institute would distribute 2.5 tons of maize and 25 bags of fertiliser to the farmers, saying out that the outreach would be done yearly.
“Each farmer will take 10kg of maize seed and 5kg of fertiliser.
“We want farmers around our out stations in Kishi (Oyo North), Ballah, Ilora etc to benefit.
“Yesterday we were at Ilora, tomorrow we will go to Ido Local Government, Oyo state.
“Apart from the farmers around our out stations, we also selected those from Agricultural Development Programme (ADP).
“We will also go to Kwara, Ekiti and other South West states after.
“We expect the farmers to multiply the seeds to give to other farmers around them so that within 2/3 years is all over places,” he said.