By Chinedu Adonu :
Enugu State government through the ministry of Agriculture on Tuesday flagged off a two-day capacity building workshop aimed at enhancing the skills of approximately 120 agricultural extension agents and farmers from all 17 local government areas.
The essence of the training is to train the farmers on the best way to apply both inorganic and organic fertilizers to their crops and trees for better yield.
Flagging off the two-day capacity building, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Agro-Industrialisation, Hon. PatricNwabuezeUbru, thanked Gov. Peter Mbah who had graciously provided the farmers with free bags of fertilizers for this year’s farming season.
Ubru, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Victor Ngwu, said that before now farmers used to buy fertilizers without knowing the appropriate crops to use them on, noting that fertilizers meant for grains should not be used for root crops.
He said that the training would equip the participants with the relevant knowledge on how to use fertilizers for optimum yield with a view to increasing crop production for personal consumption and for commercial purposes.
The Commissioner therefore urged the participants to take the training serious.
“You should be patient and cooperate with the resource persons so that you will imbibe what you are being taught. The knowledge will help you boost your production,” he charged.
The Director of Extension Services, Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Industrialisation, Mrs Angela Okolo said Enugu State was divided into 6 agric zones and that the participants were drawn from the zones after which they will teach other farmers on how to apply the fertilizers.
Okolo said that the extension agents had been trained in order to train the farmer’s representatives whom she described as Contact Farmers, to train other farmers.
Explaining the essence of the training, Okolo said that though farmers were used to fertilizers but they needed to be taught the proper usage in order not to scorch the crops rather than helping them to grow.
One of the resource persons, Mrs Francisca Nwonu, explaining the different fertilizers and their uses said that fertilizers had Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium that help for the growth of crops.
She said that farmers should test the soil before cultivation to know what fertilizer to apply.
One of the participants, Chinwe Wisdom, thanked Enugu State government and commissioner for Agriculture for organising the workshop, describing it as an eye opener.
“I have been benefiting from the ministry but this one is a very powerful workshop aimed at enhancing food production,” She said.
