No fewer than 200 male and female youths drawn from Ogun, Osun, and Oyo States on Wednesday converged on Ibadan for a two-week empowerment training on modern agricultural practices.
The training which is organized by the Institute of Agriculture, Research and Training, I.A.R&T in collaboration with Ashford Scientific Limited is intended to expose the youths to poultry farming, small ruminants value chain, irrigation and water management techniques.
Declaring the training open, the Executive Director, I.A.R&T, Professor Veronica Obatolu, who was represented by Head of Research Advisory Unit, Professor Lateef Taiwo, said the training was informed by the clamour for diversification to agriculture by the federal government and to enable the youths to become self-reliant.
The training coordinator and head of entrepreneurship, Professor Bosede Lawal said subsistence farming has given way to commercial agriculture ventures, hence, the need for the youths to brace up for the training demands.
She explained that irrigation and water management techniques were a paramount aspect of the training in view of the damage done to farm crops by climate change.
Professor Lawal who explained that the participants would be given take-off grants said actual implementation of the training would be well monitored by the monitoring unit of the institute.
Some participants who spoke to Radio Nigeria lamented the lack of bulk buyers of farm produce but pledged to utilize the training for large-scale agribusiness.
Rotimi Famakin
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