By AYO AROWOJOLU
At its inception 37 years ago in January 1988, the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), being one of the specialized universities of agriculture in Nigeria, was saddled with a tripartite mandate – Teaching, Research and Extension Services.
The Agricultural Media Resources and Extension Centre (AMREC) is the leg upon which the extension mandate rests which in essence is about deepening community engagements.
Overtime, and especially under the incumbent Administration of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olusola Babatunde Kehinde, AMREC has been living up to its billing as extensionist, reaching out with proven solutions to farmers, food processors, industries and other stakeholders across the South Western States of Nigeria.
In concrete terms, FUNAAB is currently doing so much in the area of manpower development through teaching and training as well as research, particularly problem-directed and result-oriented researches, leading to several collaborations with other stakeholders.
As an arm of the University, AMREC which is under the leadership of its Director, Prof. Prof. Olalekan Jacob Olaoye, a Professor of Fisheries Extension and Production Management, is among centres and departments under the supervision of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Development, Prof. Kolawole Adebayo.
From its day to day operations, AMREC deploys strategies involving training, demonstrations, adaptive research and communication to help farmers and other stakeholders in agriculture form opinions and adopt new knowledge and technologies that will enhance agricultural productivity and ultimately improve their livelihoods.
READ ALSO: Rivers: Why I’ll not comment on emergency declaration –Jonathan
In furtherance of its several tasks, the Centre’s approach to extension activities involves the adoption of model extension villages within its catchment areas in the southwest and the use of an inter-disciplinary extension system in agricultural transfer.
AMREC operates a structure comprising five Operating Programmes which are Extension and Adaptive Research (EAR), Gender Issues and Youth Development (GIYD), Media and Farm Broadcast (MFB); Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and ICT (PME-ICT), and Training and Farm Demonstration (TFD).
Last Thursday, March 20, 2025, AMREC literarily brought a large assemblage of tomato farmers to the classroom, courtesy of a training programme organized in collaboration with the Institutional-Based Research Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) on participatory assessment of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) on growth and yield of Tomato.
The training, themed “Result Dissemination and Post-Training on Good Agricultural Practices for Tomato Farmers,” was aimed at enhancing sustainable farming techniques, boosting productivity, and improving crop quality while minimising environmental impact.
Three facilitators took the farmers on some practical hands-on skills in farm practices geared at boosting their agricultural outputs.
Dr. Olatunbosun Soetan highlighted findings from a study on GAPs and called for increased awareness and training of tomato farmers for sustainable production and the need to scale up the project for commercial farming in Nigeria.
Another facilitator, Dr. James Fadeyi, focused on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies to mitigate crop losses, noting that farmers must have basic knowledge on key pests, diseases and weeds.
For his part, Dr. Olanrewaju Oni who discussed the impact of biostimulants and fertilizer types on okra growth and yield, offered insights applicable to tomato farming.
FUNAAB’S Director in the Directorate of Research, Innovations, and Partnerships (DRIP), Prof. Mutiu Busari, who was present at the event, underscored the role of technology in modern agriculture, noting that mobile applications could assist farmers in assessing soil fertility and determining suitable fertilizer types.
*Arowojolu is Deputy Director, Media and Information at FUNAAB
