while Nigeria is recognized across the world for its agricultural achievements, agriculture’s contribution to the nation’s GDP has significantly decreased in recent years owing to productivity issues. He discussed the struggles faced by the farmers in agriculture. He said, “Nigerian farmers are harvesting one of the least average per hectare in the world. Our farmers cannot continue to labour in vain when there exist technologies that can help transform”.
The governor urged Nigeria’s agricultural extension system to be strengthened, claiming that it is one of the most dependable platforms for transforming and translating research discoveries into real goods that may boost productivity and guarantee farmers to return back more from their small plot of land. The governor also discussed the need for developing the agricultural sector and urged the farmers to participate in the process. He said, “For us in the Northeast, agriculture must return to its pride of place, creating jobs and making nutritious food available for the people. But this will remain a dream until the growing agricultural research and development sector in the country is backed by a strong extension service”.
The governor encouraged farmers to adopt the new technologies in agriculture. He said, “While research and development create new knowledge and produce new varieties with high potentials for us, it is the duty of extension services to bring that knowledge to the farmers who must embrace and cultivate the varieties”. He added that it is vital for the improvement of the rural community. He said, “I, therefore, call for the strengthening of the research-extension-farmers-input-linkages-system because it is central to productivity enhancement and general improvement of rural livelihood.”
