Edo Government said it will employ 50 agricultural extension agents to boost food production in the state.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Peter Aikhuomobhogbe, said this on Thursday in Benin.
Aikhuomobhogbe spoke during the South-South Research Extension Farmers Input Linkage System (Refils) meeting.
He said that the new extension agents would help farmers with new technologies required to enable them to produce in a cost-effective manner.
He described Refils as a veritable tool to drive extension service in Nigeria, saying that it links all the actors in the agricultural sector.
Aikhuomobhogbe, therefore, called on Refils to build the capacity of extension agents.
He further said that the Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) were no longer functional because the extension agents lacked innovations.
“So, I want to urge you to build the capacity of the extension agents and technical workers in the ADPs in the southsouth,” he said.
Aikhuomobhogbe urged researchers to come up with a technology and innovation that could help to increase productivity and income for farmers in the state.
In an address of welcome, the Project Manager of Edo ADP, Edward lzevbigie, said the meeting was to review some of the agricultural issues affecting farmers in the region.
lzevbigie said the forum offered stakeholders an opportunity to deliberate on issues and proffer solutions.
He said that the participants were drawn from all the research institutes, including the Nigerian Institute for Oil-Palm Research, National Horticultural Research Institute.
Other participants included members of farmers’ associations and agricultural experts, among others.
Also, the Southsouth Coordinator of Refils, Mr Segun Solomon, said the meeting was to review the activities of all the ADPs in the region.
Solomon, who is also the Director of Extension Services, NIFOR, said: “We are here to look at their activities and the technical inputs that get to the farmers.
“We are trying to see how we can bring the ADPs back because they have the capacity and structures to reach out to the farmers in their localities.
“Basically, we are here to look at what they have done since the beginning of the year in relation to agricultural extension and input innovations,” he said.
He said, ”Ours is to ensure that the ADPs are running and ensure the injection of new technologies into production in the zone.”
NAN
