NVRI COUNSEL FARMERS TO UTILIZE RESEARCH FINDINGS

NVRI COUNSEL FARMERS TO UTILIZE RESEARCH FINDINGS
Patrick Osadebamwen

The Director General of National Veterinary Research Institute, NVRI, Vom, Dr. Lami Lombi has called on commercial farmers in Nigerian to take advantage of various research findings by the research institutes in the country.
Lombi who said this in an interview Abuja with our correspondent stated that gainful commercial farming can only be realized when farmers utilize new breakthrough results aimed at improving the agricultural products.
The Yar’adua administration promotes food security through commercial agriculture as part of her seven point agenda, the success of this Lombi noted is anchored on the pivotal role research findings can play on the improvement of livestock and crops.
She maintained that there are researchs that address some agricultural problems in the market which can be of immense benefit to the farmers and the country when the food producers visit reasearch insititutes to learn improved ways of farming and handling their crops.
According to her, findings that can improve food security in the country and promote prosperity are available in the insititution waiting to be adopted and maximally utilize by commercial farmers.
Lombi said that farmers who go into livestock must face the fact that management of livestock diseases play crucial role in the succesful operation of such business. This fact should ordinarily make them visit the NVRI for assistance for optimum production. This also applied to farmers of food crops of all kinds.
“If you are going to livestock farming, you need to know that effective management of diseases are very crucial to production and managing a livestock farm. You don’t have to invest money and later discover that all the livestock are dying where they are kept, you will need to visit the National Veterinary Research Institute NVRI, Vom”, she advised.
She also said “I believe that the government or the farmers would be able to benefit from the research institutes. I will want them to take a cue and believe in the fact that these research institutes are there for them.”
Lombi’s confidence can be traced to the elevation of the NVRI as the regional center for West and Central Africa on diseases diagnosis. Any disease of livestock and animals occuring in the West Africa sub region or in the Central Africa sub-region must have had the accreditation of VOM to announce that it has such a disease.