The Enugu State Agricultural Development Programme (ENADEP), Programme Manager Dr. Matthias Onu has lamented over the inadequate number of extension workers in the state.
Dr. Onu in an interview on Tuesday stated, “Inadequate extension workers affect ENADEP from achieving its objective of developing and promoting agriculture especially in the rural communities”.
He further said, “For an effective and efficient delivery and accomplishment of the programme, about 365 extension workers is needed but presently the state has only 26 extension workers. This lapse has created information gap between the Agency and the farmers, in the area of information sharing on modern ways of farming”.
Thus, they have resorted to engaging beneficiaries of the N-Power, a National Social Investment Program created to address poverty and help increase economic development, to interface with the farmers in various communities where there are no extension workers.
The Agricultural extension workers extend research-based findings and information on agriculture to the farmers with the aim of improving the farmers’ agricultural produce and standard of living; the extension is a major avenue for transfer of information and technology.
The Programme Manager further disclosed that ENADEP participates in the Research-Extension-Farmer-Input Linkage System (REFILS) training. REFILS is an umbrella organ that co-ordinates the research and extension activities of the Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) in Nigeria.
According to him, scientists in the agency are usually sent on trainings organized by REFILS; they in turn train the extension workers to improve their skill in interfacing with the farmers.
To cushion the effect of banning of rice importation in Nigeria, Dr Onu said that ENADEP also benefit from trainings and re-trainings organized by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture on rice farming.
He also acknowledged the efforts of the State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for investing massively in agriculture sector with the goal to making the state a food hub in the South East region.
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