By Princely Onyenwe,Imo
Agriculture plays pivotal roles in Imo State including food security, employment, foreign exchange earnings and poverty reduction. The growth in food crop productivity in Imo State with emphasis on the decomposition of total factor productivity into technical progress, changes in technical and allocative efficiency and scale effects.
The Shared Prosperity Government of Senator Hope Uzodinma have suggested reforms in the Imo Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) geared towards enhancing the capacity of Imo Agricultural Development Program in extending novel technologies and innovations to Imo farmers for better production and bumper harvest.
Imo Agricultural Development Program has been characterized by small scale production since the past administrations. This characteristic has led to low income hence, the Imo farmers cannot afford yield increasing technologies and consequently experienced low output. Due to low incomes and output, the levels of investment in farms have been very low, forming a cycle called “vicious cycle of poverty”
In order to break this cycle and improve the performance of the agricultural sector, the Shared Prosperity Government have introduced and implemented several policies and programmes aimed at revamping the sector. Prominent amongst these programmes is the repositioning of Agricultural Development Programme (ADPs) previously funded via a tripartite arrangement of the World Bank, the Federal Government and the State governments.
The ADP is perhaps the boldest step taken by the Federal Government of Nigeria to develop the agricultural sector of the economy. Thus the Imo ADP became a central motive force for direct investment by government on small holders in agriculture.
The Imo governor His Excellency Senator Hope Uzodinma has designed Imo ADP to improve the traditional systems of production and raise productivity by transfer of relevant and proven production technologies to farmers, easing constraints on inputs supplies and provision of rural infrastructure like Tractors, fertilizers, improved varieties of seeds, and other farm inputs.
However, the governor has as well positioned some strategies for achieving the Imo ADP objectives in the farm education by the Extension Service Agents and crop sub-sector by usually employment of On-farm Adaptive Research (OFAR) and Small Plot Adoption Technique (SPAT). These are achieved under the umbrella of the Training and visit (T & V) system of extension with male and female contact farmers as the centre piece of all extension actions. The governor has employed contact farmers who are progressive and receptive farmer trained by the village Extension Agent (V. E. A) on the new practices and through whom information is communicated to other rural farmers within the rural for improved productivity and optimum farm yield.
With the total reforms of Imo Agricultural Development Program by the Shared Prosperity Government of Senator Hope Uzodinma, the Imo ADP is ready to increase farmers education on modern Agricultural Technics in the areas of livestock and crop production which includes Rehabilitationof Adapalm, the planting of 400,000 oil Palm seedlings, the revitalization of Imo rubber Estates at Emeabiam and Obitti in Owerri West and Ohaji Egbema as well as Rice production in Ihitte Uboma and Okigwe. Also the establishment of University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences will increase the youth acceptance of Agriculture as a career and alternative source of economic sustainability which will help improve food productions in the state, increase farmers incomes, help reduce poverty level in the rural areas as well as improved the revenue of the state.
Imo is set to develop again under Gov.Hope Uzodinma.
9News Nigeria (Owerri)
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