The federal government has introduced “help-line technology” to deliver extension services to Nigerian farmers.
The minister of Agriculture, Alhaji Sabo Nanono, made this known on Tuesday during the launching of the programme at the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria.
He said the ministry and the IAR would work together to achieve the desired objectives.
The minister, represented by Engr. Awolabi Martins Olusegun, said the event marked the beginning of a sensitization campaign designed to address the challenges of farmers on the usage of the help-line technology.
“This help-line technology would help in solving a lot of problems faced by farmers. It would minimise the burden of travelling to far places searching for agricultural experts to solve their problems.
“Government has established six centres across the geo-political zones to meet the farmers through phone calls. Farmers can now get relevant information on how to improve their activities and solve their challenges,” he said.
Also speaking, the Zonal Director of Kaduna State Agricultural Agency (KADA), Maigana, Zaria, Malam Ahmed Abubakar, said the initiative would help in addressing the challenges of inadequate extension workers, which constraint farming activities in the past.
IAR Director, Professor Ibrahim Umar Abubakar, said collaboration among the ministry, the institute and farmers is not new.
He assured stakeholders of IAR’s commitment in moving the agricultural sector forward.