Expert Urges Farmers To Diversify With Okro, Other Crops For Food Security
•By Oyeniyi Awojoodu, Ibadan
IBADAN – The Executive Secretary of Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria, Professor Garba Hamidu Sharubutu has advised Nigerian farmers not to concentrate on production of cash crops alone.
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Sharubutu made this declaration while addressing journalists during the opening of international conference titled “Global Okro Roundtable – 11(GORT).
The event which was organised by foundation for advanced training in plant breeding India (ATPBR) Maharashtra, India and National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT) was held at NIHORT Ibadan on Wednesday.
The conference was attended by Senator Yunus Akintunde who represented the Senate, NIHORT Director, Professor Mohammad Lawal Attanda, representative of the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari and Director of ATPBR, India, Dr. Surinder Tikko and other stakeholders in the agricultural sector.
Sharubutu, while addressing the journalists, advised Nigerian farmers to shift their attention from production of cash crops to production of food crops such as Okro.
He said that diversification of farmers from cash crops to food crops such as Okro will go a long way to meet the focus of the current administration which has placed more emphasis on diversification of the economy.
Sharubutu said, “Moreso, Mr. President is also interested in diversification of the economy. We cannot just concentrate on production of cash crops alone. We need to also support and look at other staple food items. And most importantly, Okro. It can grow anywhere and any season. In the desert or anywhere.
“What we are doing is to promote production of Okro. It can grow in two cycles, and this two or three cycles will make agriculture more sustainable in the sense that in between the farming of yam you have Okro maybe one or twice. So Sustainability of our own citizens are key and this is what this government is doing.
“The council has the mandate to regulate agricultural research global training and extension. We are here in Ibadan in view of the global roundtable conference that is taking place under the promotion okro. Okro is our food and our delicacy.
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“The executive is represented, the Minister was represented and the Senate was also represented by Senator Yunus Akintunde. We are the second largest in terms of okro production, but we are not yet there, we are not yet there because there are a lot of things that we have to undergo like we say that Mr. President has insisted that all Nigerians should go to bed empty stomach, it is not just talking about the quantity of the food but the quality of the food.
“You cannot eat Amala or pounded yam without a lubricant, okro is the lubricant to lubricate it to the ground. Okro is most acceptable in all parts of the country, North, East, South or West, all the geopolitical zones consume Okro. We can develop it into all forms of food.”
Tikko, while speaking noted that the conference was organised in order to have inputs of the stakeholders on how to make Okro a global crop.
“We are here for the conference to make Okro a global crop with the help of ATPBR in India and NIHORT in Nigeria. We are together working towards making it a global crop. To work on the modalities to make it one. We are here to talk about it.”