NAN-AE-6
Fertility
By Suleiman Shehu
Ibadan, Oct. 26, 2016 (NAN) An agriculturalist, Prof. James Alabi, has advised farmers to adopt Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) techniques in order to have maximum farm yield
Alabi, the Executive Director, Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), Ibadan, gave the advice on Wednesday at a workshop on ISFM held at IAR&T, Ibadan.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that ISFM is a soil fertility management practice that entails the use of fertilisers, organic inputs and improved germplasm to local conditions.
The practice optimises agronomic use for efficiency of the applied nutrients and improved crop productivity.
The IAR&T executive director said that soil was an important factor in crop production which must be accorded adequate attention.
“Decline in soil fertility in South West and Nigeria as a whole has resulted to crop low yields and thus low productivity of farmers.
“The management techniques presently used by farmers have limitation and cannot support sustainable crop production.
“ The Nigeria Health Consortium is set to promote Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) in order to improve farmers livelihood and reduce poverty,’’ Alabi said.
The don said that to stop rural urban migration and diversify Nigeria’s economy, agriculture must be seen as a business and profitable venture.
Alabi said that this was possible if soils are properly managed and the necessary technology made available to farmers to alleviate poverty.
In her contribution, Mrs Doyin Awe, Regional Director, South West, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, urged farmers to get their soil tested in order to know the type of fertiliser to apply.
Awe said that different soil type required different fertilisers; therefore, soil testing was key for improved farm yield.
Dr Olufunmilayo Ande, Project Coordinator, Nigeria Soil Health Consortium (NSHC), urged the farmers not to take the use of ISFM techniques for granted.
Ande said that the essence of the programme was to boost the livelihood of the farmers by boosting agricultural productivity.
NAN reports that the stakeholder at the workshop includes farmers, credit providers, Researchers, agro input dealers, extension agents, policy makers among others. (NAN)
SYS/AOS/AFA
Edited by Bayo Sekoni/Felix Ajide
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