OAU, FARA collaborate to empower 500 farmers in Osun, Oyo


The Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, has collaborated with the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) to empower no fewer than 500 grassroots farmers.
Dr Bamidele Amujoyegbe, Head of Department, Crop Production and Protection in the faculty, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Ile-Ife.
Amujoyegbe said the mandate given to FARA was to assist farmers at the grassroots to alleviate their problems by providing ways out of such difficulties.
He added that researchers who had been interacting with the farmers had identified such constraints as infrastructure development, finance and unavailability of agro-chemical inputs.
Others, he said, were the inability to get good seeds and fertilizers.
According to him, the result of the research paves way for farmers to meet their immediate needs of unavailability of agro-chemical inputs.
He noted that the benefitting farmers were selected from two local governments each from Osun and Oyo states.
The beneficiaries are farmers from Akindele Village in Ido Local Government and Lagelu in Ogo-Oluwa Local Government of Oyo State.
And from Osun are Osunwoyin via Oluponna in Ayedire Local Government and Iwara in At akumosa East Local Government.
Amujoyegbe said that FARA donated N1.8 million for herbicides instead of giving cash that could be diverted into burial of in-laws, marriage and other social activities by the farmers.
``We bought herbicides from chemical companies, including Jubaili Agrotech, Jericho, Ibadan; Grand Total Organic Fertilizer Ltd, Kaduna and Fisco Chemicals Company, Ibadan.
``With this, we were able to resolve part of the grassroots farmers’ challenges and create sales point in each of the communities to sell quality products to them,’’ he said.
Contributing, Chief Michael Idowu, Coordinator, farmers in Osunwoyin via Oluponna town, in Osun, said that the programme had afforded them the opportunity to purchase farm chemicals at a controlled price.
Idowu added that the farmers now had access to chemicals at nearby community shops without the stress of travelling to neighbouring towns and applauded the gesture.
He explained that the gesture had helped them to enhance their farm work and had improved yield.
The coordinator appealed to government at all levels to assist farmers by providing the necessary inputs that would boost farming. 

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