Economy cannot diversify without research says IAR&T boss, Prof. Adediran

I am Prof. James Alabi Adediran, the Executive Director, Institute of Agricultural Research & Training, Moorplantation, Ibadan.

Your Institute is very strategic to soil management with the event going on here, what do you think it can attract to your Institute as regards your mandate to agriculture and food security?

My Institute has a national mandate on soil research and as a result we are very close to the activities of soil scientists of Nigeria as every year we endeavour to attend this conference, moreso that I am the National Secretary of the society, and this has also necessitated our active participation in the society. Well you will see that the “theme” of this year is “managing soil for nutritional and food security and climate change and Adaptation and mitigation” this is part of our work in the Institute for the purpose bringing development necessary in all area of soil in the country. We all know that soil is very important in the food production and not only that, very important in the life of human beings looking at the conference logo on healthy soil for healthy living.

How is the synergy between Nigerian Metrological Agency (NIMET) and your Institute in the face of research with integration of climate change challenges to food security?

All our activities are centred on the environment in which we are working. By environment we mean climate, weather, soil and waters that surround us. We cannot carry out research without collaborating with NIMET as we always make use of their weather stations to collate weather data that we put in the computer for the analysis of the our own data for research work. So we work in collaboration. The data from NIMET helps us to improve on our research work in building well weather resistance improved technologies for food security and soil improvement.

How you describe the commitment of government and increasing population in the face of making food available through improved?

I will say the support is not adequate. Although one cannot say government is not giving support because we are working in the research and we are normally paid our salaries. That is one support we are getting in the course of carrying our research, the other one is year in year out, they normally appropriate certain amount to us to carry out research, but however, the release of such funding is not always forth coming. About 33% of such money are what we get out the hundred percent which makes it very inadequate. In research your approach will determine the kind of result you will always get. In developed world where formidable researches are being carried out is a function of 100% support in term of money and grants.

 In Nigeria, it is not so as government is not giving enough support in terms of money for research and this is why many of our research work are there in the shelves and some are not completed as they remained half baked thereby making it impossible to be replicated elsewhere. The support given is not adequate to promote technologies we are trying to generate. These technologies are either half baked or in shelves as they are not sufficient enough to develop the economy of these country. It is expected of any nation to know that no amount of money is too much for research as is being done in the advanced countries of the world. 

The use of hoes and cutlass cannot meet required food production of the present growing population and borrowing technologies without investing on our own is not the best for our economy. Let me tell you, all these borrowed technologies are not adequately validated as we do not have the technologies for their validation before they are introduced to our farmers. We researchers are just struggling to engage government to help by paying attention to us. Research generation is always a continuous exercise because of the stages, as you have car using gas is not enough to make you relax without researching into the ones using solar for the purpose of alternative and economic growth through diversification. So government has to be more committed to research.