The Federal government has commissioned its first agricultural radio and television station, the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) radio and television studio at the Council’s headquarters in Abuja.
The radio station will transmit online, while the television station will transmit on a free to air satellite, it said.
Speaking at the commissioning in Abuja on Monday, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammad Abubakar stated that the facility is expected to provide a platform for timely dissemination of agricultural information and showcasing its interventions in the country.
Abubakar added that the use of the facility is expected to also strengthen research collaborations.
This, he said, is to aid research by providing greater access to recent advances in agricultural sciences, television and radio stations, which will link millions of Nigerians to firsthand agricultural information.
According to him, the Federal government will be distributing extension teaching materials to 11 Research Institutes and Colleges as part of the ongoing efforts of the Council to strengthen the Adopted Villages and Outreach Centres.
“This is official commissioning of this world class facility comprising of a digital museum and documentation centre for referencing agricultural research information and knowledge, an electronic library, which which will link millions of Nigerians to firsthand agricultural information.
He said all Research Institutes and Adopted Villages in the country have been directed to activate all Adopted Villages and Outreach Centres in order to drive the Ministry towards strengthening the extension system in the country.
“The Adopted Villages are formidable tools for the dissemination of technologies to agrarian communities and support the drive of the Ministry towards a strengthened extension service delivery in Nigeria.
“Accordingly, we will be distributing extension teaching materials to 11 Research Institutes and Colleges as part of the ongoing efforts of the Council to strengthen the Adopted Villages and Outreach Centres”, he added.
In his remark, the Executive Secretary of ARCN, Professor Garba Sharubutu, said establishing the radio and television had become necessary as the Council needed enough airtime to be able to reach out to farmers across the country.
He stated that the agricultural research system has relied on either national radio or the commercial radio stations to reach out to farmers before now.
He said, “Before now, for every program we would want to air we had to pay, and by the time we computed from all the agricultural research institutes and put up what is necessary to actually take the message to the people, that was why we established the agricultural television and radio.
“Even if we pay for airtime, the slot we will be given to each of the agricultural research institutes will be a maximum of one hour, and it will not be enough for us to express ourselves for the farmers to actually appreciate what we are doing.
“We suffered production losses, we suffered post production losses and these are issues that we need to bring to the fore for the farmers. By establishing this communication system we will be able to send information across to the farmers”, Sharubutu explained.
Aside from commissioning the first ever agricultural radio and television in Nigeria, the Minister also commissioned a museum and electronic library for the Council, and also distributed extension teaching materials to 11 agricultural Research Institutes and Colleges.
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