A professor of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Olufemi Ajayi, has urged state governments, especially Lagos State, to adopt climate-smart agriculture to increase food production.
Ajayi, of the Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.
He said adopting climate-smart agriculture like screen house, green, and top-of-the roof farming would enable states to become self-sufficient in food.
The lecturer said states like Lagos could still feed their citizens if appropriate agricultural technology was designed and deployed, irrespective of the availability of land.
According to him, nowadays, climate-smart agriculture is what should be the focus of the government.
“States like Lagos can produce tomatoes that are needed in the state by deploying appropriate technology.
“Green houses, screen houses, and tops of buildings—all of these can be used to produce most of these vegetables.
“Lagos should engage unemployed youths in agriculture and make use of some parts of Ikorodu, Epe, and Badagry.
“People can still make use of all these areas to produce food, so that it will not be like Lagos is only a market but can also produce food. I am very sure that is possible,” he said.
The scholar urged the state government to engage local government chairmen in the deployment of climate-smart agriculture.
He noted that technology controlled everything, including agriculture.
He said, “Some of these local government chairmen can be engaged; it may not necessarily mean having the space in thousands of hectares.
No, one hectare is enough to produce a ton of tomatoes.
“We have a screen house and a green house; the green house is basically used for experiments, whereas the screen house is now being used by farmers.
“I was in Israel, and there I discovered that farmers engaged in screen houses. They have screen houses on hectares.
“That was where I saw that tractors also work in screen houses—the very tiny ones. Technology controls everything. It was so fantastic.
“We have no complaints at all in Nigeria. We should not complain because nature has been so good to us.”
He urged the state government to utilise its comparative advantage in fisheries, shrimp, seafood generally, and vegetables and not remain a destination for goods and food.
“I think Lagos State can engage in such ventures; it is not difficult; it is just a matter of commitment and dedication.
“I know of research being carried out by Lagos State Polytechnic; they are researching onion production.
“They only need to be encouraged, and everything will be fine,” he said.(NAN)
