Abuja – Alhaji Abdullahi Salisu, FCT Fadama III Programme Coordinator, has urged government and other stakeholders to embrace innovations that would attract youths to farming.
Salisu, who made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday, said that the involvement of youths in agriculture would enhance job creation.
“You cannot in this 21st century expect a young man to carry hoe and cutlass to the farm.
“It is not possible and that is why I am saying we should adopt the principle of intensification and not just expansion.
“If you can intensively cultivate and produce maximally on one hectare with the newest technology available, what you will be getting will be more than what somebody is cultivating on five hectares.
“So, we must adopt best practices based on technology, to make it attractive to youths.”
He attributed farmers’ loss of confidence in government agricultural programmes to years of failures and disappointments.
Salisu, therefore, urged the present administration to be involved in building the capacities and competences of the farmers as well as linking them with sources of inputs and credits.
He also advised farmers to imbibe the culture of cooperation rather than operating alone.
“When you pool your resources, you could achieve more laudable goals than what you would achieve as an individual.
“We should intensify our system, adopt the best practices available.
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“It is not profitable to claim to have 10 hectares and at the end of the day the unit yield is not comparable to the amount of investment in the farm,” he added. (NAN)
