Date: 2017-12-18

Special Adviser to Kwara State Governor on Agriculture & Rural Water Support Services, Hon. Anu Ibiwoye (r); Country Manager/CEO, Dizengoff Nigeria, Mr. Antti Ritvonen; Representative of Vegetable Farmers, Kwara State, Pa Dan Odijie, and Coordinator, Kwara Agro Mall,Mr. Temitope Amujo, during a farmers' field day, organised by Dizengoff for farmers in Kwara State.

To attain food sufficiency in the country through agricultural revolution, there is urgent need to train farmers to know more about modern agriculture and sizeable level of resource commitment to the sector.

This was the submission of Country Manager/Chief Executive Officer, Dizengoff Nigeria, Mr. Antti Ritvonen, during the Farmers' Field day, in Ilorin, Kwara State, where he stated that Nigeria has all it takes to feed itself, Africa and other regions of the world, provided mechanisation is combined with knowledge-based best practices in modern agriculture.

At the forum, Dizengoff exposed participants, drawn from the corporate agric firms, the state government and the small-scale farmers to variety of innovations in agricultural mechanisation and technologies. These includes greenhouse technology, drip irrigation, cost effective tractors, selective weed control chemicals and battery powered sprayer and irrigators, which combined to make farming commercial, industrial and revolutionary.

Ritvonen added that farmers need to realise that agricultural business is good if people could do it right, seeing it as a serious investment that has the potential to bring great returns.

He reiterated the readiness of the Dizengoff to partner with the state governments, agencies, corporate and individual farmers on modern technologies, equipment and inputs for a more prosperous Nigeria.

Special Adviser to the Kwara State governor on Agriculture & Rural Water Support Services, Anu Ibiwoye said agriculture is paramount in the agenda of the state, noting that it is moving from subsistence food production to agric commercialisation and industrialisation, especially in cashew, Shea butter nuts and cassava production, to mention but a few.

Permanent Secretary in the state ministry of agric, Leader Simeon Opowoye, added that manual agriculture was ineffective, expensive, intensive and extensive, making it irrelevant in the modern age of food production, industrial raw materials requirements.

Oscar Walumbe, Integrated Project Country Manager, Greenhouse unit of Dizengoff, said "greenhouses helps to bridge the gap between weather extremes to stabilise vegetable production," advising farmers never to produce what they like, but what the market demands, saying greenhouses help farmers use less resources to get greater produce and higher return on investment.