NAN-AE-5
Farmers
By Vivian Emoni
Abuja, April 19, 2017 (NAN) An ecologist, Mr Williams Osaze, has advised farmers to embrace organic agriculture and commodity export so as to aid efforts to improve the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
In an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday, Osaze said that farmers had a lot to gain from adopting organic agriculture and exporting agricultural produce.
He said that such a venture would impact positively on the nation’s economy.
He urged more farmers to engage in tomato, plantain, yam, vegetables, cassava and yam cultivation as well as aquaculture, among others, in order to generate huge income.
Osaze, who is an advocate of organic farming, said that there were huge markets in the U.S. and other developed countries for organic foods, adding that the organic industry in the U.S. generated a lot of revenue per annum.
He said that many people were consuming organic foods because of their health benefits, adding that the growing consciousness could help Nigeria to form a new awareness as far as organic produce was concerned.
“If Nigerian farmers can embrace organic agriculture, I want to assure you that the country will never go hungry.
“The new oil in Nigeria is agriculture. When Nigeria decides to take this serous, everyone will want to go into farming because it is profitable,’’ he said.
Osaze said that crops cultivated with organic fertilisers often turned out to be better because they were natural, with no negative health implications, as they prevented diseases.
He called for intensive public awareness campaigns in all parts of the country on the need to embrace the organic system of farming.
He advised the government at all levels to also consider the establishment of special markets for organic farm produce and products.
“The need for such markets has become necessary to ensure ready markets for organic products and thus encourage more farmers to embrace organic type of farming, as against fertiliser and chemical-based farming,’’ he said.
Osaze also advised government to give proper attention to the export of agricultural produce, adding that such efforts would further boost the national economy. (NAN)
VOE/AOS/OOK
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Edited by Bayo Sekoni and Dayo Komolafe