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Happy Sunday hivers,hope you're doing great. Being the first time posting in this community,i would like share my experience during the weekend at an Agricultural summit.

What led me to attending the summit?

All federal universities are on strike and it is also partially affecting our SIWES known as FPY(Farm Practical Year).

On Thursday,17th of February 2022,after i was done at the workshop enterprise in school,a friend of mine sent me a link to the programme and urged me to be there,it was scheduled for Thursday,Friday and Saturday.

I couldn't attend all of it but i attended the last 2 days,it was really interesting and i learnt a lot from the different people who spoke.

I learnt that agriculture can be a rewarding career seeing people who are successful farmers come up and speak to us,learnt that there are lots of innovations yet to be discovered and which can fetch you a lot of money.

The key thing i learnt was that wherever there is a problem,i should try to profer a solution to the problem rather than blame the government or whine about the problem.

Where did the event take place

The event took place at the cultural centre, Abeokuta....a bit far from my school but since there was about 6 of us going,we talked to a bus driver who took us there(There is currently the issue of fuel scarcity in Nigeria) the price was not so bad anyway but it was higher than normal .

On the second day,we received lectures but on the last day there was an exhibition so that people could network with other farmers,companies could bring their innovations,farmers could get loans provided that they meet certain requirements and the banks are able to monitor them properly(if they need to).

Stressing the need for mechanization in the programme to farmers,here are a few of the machines and implements that were exhibited at the event

1.Hammer mill(no sieve)

2.Integrated rice mill

3.Multi-crop thresher

4.Yam mound making implement

5.Row seed planter

6.Tractor:Any implement can be coupled on the tractor depending on the operation to be carried out on the farm

The one that really caught my attention is this particular one that is capable of peeling cassava...it is known as the cassava peeling machine

The cassava peeling machine will substitute using knife or Cutlass to peel the cassava which would consume a lot if time when there is a bulk of cassava waiting to be peeled.

It saves time and stress and also helps the farmer to produce on a large scale

What did i achieve in this program?

In Nigeria, agriculture is a little bit underappreciated ,attending the program made me see the various opportunities that agriculture has to offer and that people make it by going into agriculture as well,it made me more interested.

Aside from that i was able to network with a lot of big businesses and got to know of some free opportunities agric graduates could get once they are finished with school...i also connected with multinational companies all across the company and exchanged contact with them.

It also made me take good note of the use of machines in agriculture,proper use of appropriate machine ensures the work is done faster,more efficiently and in bulk....i.e if you are serious with agriculture,make sure you get appropriate machinery like the tractor on which other implements would be coupled.

The summit really added to my bank of knowledge and I'm glad that i attended,the program was actually organized by the federal government;this means that little by little the government is looking for ways to diversify the economy of Nigeria from oil to agriculture or to reduce the overdependence that Nigeria has on oil.

Soon the government will focus more on agriculture and there are divers career opportunities in agriculture,subsidies in purchasing machines.

Another thing i would never forget was when one of the speakers mentioned that we would need to appropriately legislate agriculture in Nigeria so that only people who are qualified can go into agriculture.

Nowadays,if you have enough money,you can dabble into agriculture but it shouldn't be that way,Nigeria has to declare agriculture as a full profession.

After the programme,one of the speakers decided to lift us in his luxurious car seeing that we were students and came from afar.

That really made it easy for us to get home earlier than we expected,he didn't drop us at school but he dropped us at a location close enough

Thank you for reading this

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All pictures were captured using my Tecno Camon 16s unless indicated otherwise

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Who is VheekthorJay

VheekthorJay is a Christian,Drummer,Writer,Farmer,lover of hive,striving to become a better version of himself.

He learns on a daily basis and looks at every disappointment as a blessing.

He is kind, loving and a good person

Thank you for always supporting him!!!!