AGRICULTURAL Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) has said for Nigeria to be self-sufficient in food, research institutes must develop technology to enhance productivity.
It said the journey to attain self-sufficiency was dependent on research, training and extension services.
ARCN’s Executive Secretary Prof Garba Sharubutu spoke yesterday at a retreat for legislative committees on agriculture, executive directors of agricultural research institutes, provosts of federal colleges of agriculture and vice chancellors of universities of agriculture.
Sharubutu, who noted that the ARCN was committed to the attainment of food sufficiency, said the council would synergise with research institutes.
He said: “We want to assure our farmers that we will be available to them for advice, we want to see how research institutes will be able to synergise to do things collectively, not in an isolated manner.
“That is why this retreat is aimed at addressing insecurity, COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukraine war, which have direct effect on the economy of the world, particularly Nigeria.
“We have remained committed and soon, you will see the product of this gathering, at the level of ARCN, we remain ever committed to ensure that all policy issues are being tackled by us.
“We also want to look at the gaps in terms of capacity and how we are going to approach it to give us a hand to address it, we also want to look at the budget deficit as far as implementation of our programmes are concerned”.
Minister of State for Agriculture Mustapha Baba Shehuri said it was important agricultural research officers created innovation platforms in crop production, livestock and fisheries development.
According to him, research was vital and a strong pillar in the draft National Agriculture Technology and Innovation Policy (NATIP).
“We must target research activities to address and solve problems for small scale farmers to reap the benefit of their efforts”, he said.