The Provost, Federal College of Agriculture, Ibadan, Dr. (Mrs.) Foluke Oluwatoyinbo, talks about the 90-year-old institution, as well as education in the country in an interview with journalists. AKINWALE ABOLUWADE was thereNinety years on, what has the college contributed to the national growth'The mandate of the college is to train and produce highly skilled middle age human power to strengthen the economy through agriculture. It has pursued this mandate among other activities like helping our students, training farmers from time to time, as well as training youths. The college over the years has produced eminent personalities in the field of agriculture and in other sectors of the economy. We have actually formed the Foundation of Agricultural Education not just in Nigeria but in West Africa because we learnt from history that when the college was founded, the trainees were not just coming from Nigeria, they were also coming from other parts of West Africa.As an expert, what area of agriculture should the country focus on to improve the economy' All branches of agriculture are equally important. Whether you are talking about livestock or crop production, we have a lot of areas to capture like export crops, vegetables, seedlings, arable, cassava, yams, potatoes and others. We also have other areas like production, processing, value addition, packaging, prevention from decaying and rotting, infestation and others. Agriculture is vast and every area is valuable. The college has contributed to the growth of Nigeria in a lot of ways. Our students are expected to go out and introduce to farmers modern technologies, other ways of producing crops, rearing animals and when you talk about modern methods, these are scientifically proven technologies. Our students are disseminators of technologies.What are the ways by which farmers, whether small scale or mechanised, benefit from your services'There is no structured connection. But we have a connection because many of them usually come for our graduates to work on their farms' Some of them also send us their workers for training in our regular courses that lead to the issuance of the National Diploma and Higher National Diploma. Some also send their workers for short term training in specific areas. Some of them approach us to come to their farms and help in solving one problem or the other.How can we reposition agriculture to improve the economy'Agriculture is the foundation of life. If any country is going to do well and sustain the lives of its citizenry, it has to take agriculture very serious. When you talk about other fields of endeavour, you talk about Medicine, Law, ICT, they are men that sustain these fields and those men need to be sustained. So, agriculture is basic to any other sector of the economy. If we dont pay the sector the desired attention that it deserves, no other thing will work.How can government restore the glory of agriculture in the country'We are all aware that agriculture is one of the main sources of our economic sustenance. From the North to the South, our climate is good for one aspect of agriculture or the other. But one problem is that agriculture is a painstaking venture. You dont expect to get rich quick. Everybody needs quick money; people love to get rich quick but on our part we have been working on our students to tell them that whatever that is going to endure will take time and energy. The governors in the South-West are working out what we call regional integration. Most of the states are trying to bring back their farm settlements. They want to use agriculture as a major tool in reviving the regions economy.What advice do you have for the state governments in this regard' It is very gratifying now that those that are in the helms of affairs have the will. Many papers and publications that have been presented suggesting ways to go about it had been put on the shelves in the past and nobody implemented them. But, it makes one very glad that now we have a government at the state level which is ready to revive agriculture. Bringing back the farm settlements is a right step in the right direction and we have said this several times. People have listened but nobody acted. We are glad that now some people are taking it up. It is going to solve food and unemployment problem. Many of these youths that are jobless and causing trouble all over the country will be occupied. It will boost our economy as we will have the capacity to produce a vast range of agricultural products. We can export; we dont have to live just on oil or petroleum and we will not continue to live in a fools paradise with the belief that oil will continue to serve our economy. We will train them and give them the proper skill that they need. We will monitor them to their farms. Training is our basic mandate.How do you keep government abreast of the innovations of the college'We have our supervisory agencies. We are directly supervised by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developments. We have the Agriculture Research Council of Nigeria. We are also supervised by the Committees on Agriculture both in the Senate and House of Representatives. They come from time to time to see what we are doing and as to whether our products are in use, yes, they are in use. Many farmers come here and say we saw your machines exhibited; how much will it cost us to produce them'What are the problems facing farmers in Nigeria'One is land clearing. Government should acquire the necessary equipment and tools, not just tractors alone but everything that will make farming easier. Government can have centres where farmers can pay a token to use equipment. This is basic if we are serious. Land use is another issue. In fact, this is the area where our own products (students) have problems. They are young and dont have access to land. Only a few of them whose fathers are wealthy or that are chiefs in their villages that have access to land.
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