SEGUN AYINDE, ABEOKUTA
Acting Rector, Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Dr. Adeoye Odedeji, says the institution has proposed the establishment of N500million Department of Agricultural Technology in the institution.
Odedeji stated this when Ogun State Journalists in Agriculture paid him a courtesy visit in his office
The MAPOLY acting rector, who lamented that paucity of funds had hindered the school from establishing the department, said that the institution was liaising with the state government through its Ministry of Agriculture to make the dream a reality.
He said that the creation of the department was capital intensive as it would include procuring tractors, bulldozers, harvesters, among other expensive agricultural equipment that would be needed to teach the students modern Agricultural Technology.
Odedeji noted that the department would cover other departments related to Agriculture, including Engineering, Fishery and others as it would even educate students on how to consult in agric business to enhance food security in the state and the entire nation.
He stated that the department of agricultural technology was a good project to commence in the institution because the management had shown the minister of agriculture the demonstrated plantation farm as part of the conditions to create the department.
Odedeji said, “It is a proposal that we want to implement. We discovered that the money to implement it is huge. For example, for you to establish that department, you must have tractor, a bulldozer, a grader, harvester; these are some the agricultural implements that are capital intensive.
“So, we may be thinking about N500,000,000 to put it in place. It cannot just be one department. We will have Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural Technology, Fishery; the total complement for it to be functional; that is why we have stepped back in view of our situation.
“So, when the system becomes robust, it is a good project to implement and we have already commenced by allowing the minister of agriculture to have that plantation. So, this we can use as demonstration farm.
“We are a state polytechnic; the only way is to liaise with the state government and seek its assistance through the state ministry of agriculture. This is a good take-off even; those bulldozers and other equipment we talk about, we can always seek the state government’s assistance. However, I’m aware that there some help one can get from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
He added, “The more agricultural students you train, the more people will become interested in Agriculture and even if they do not go into Agriculture, they become consultants. They can consult for people in agric business; that is why we have Department for Agric Extension and Rural Development.
“Extension services are very key in Agriculture because they are the ones who collate all agricultural information and knowledge and disseminate it to farmers for improvement in their farming practise.”