FULafia VC Abdul Rahman commends agric faculty on screen house unveiling

The Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Lafia (FULafia), Prof. Shehu Abdul Rahman, has commended the Faculty of Agriculture on the occasion of the unveiling of its screen house. 

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Screen houses are designed to protect young plants from insects like aphids and white flies that transmit viruses usually passed from diseased vines to new plants.

Farmers use screen houses to grow and prepare disease-free planting materials to grow themselves or sell to farmers to grow in their field. 

This method has helped farmers to continue producing disease-free vines for commercial production throughout the year.

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The vice-chancellor led some Management and other staff of the University to witness the maiden harvest at the screen house.

Vegetables, including tomatoes and peppers were harvested during the event.

Abdul Rahman said: " What we have seen here today is a demonstration that the faculty has keyed into the vision of the University to produce graduates who would have both the credentials and the potential to be self-reliant and employers of labour.”

Abdul Rahman praised the faculty for training students on precision agriculture, saying that was necessary in the practice of modern agriculture.

Precision agriculture is the process of employment scientific components to improve crops yields.

The vice-chancellor called on the faculty to extend the knowledge to the communities neighbouring the University, urging the faculty to expand its production, create awareness and market its produce. 

"We should have a vegetable market in the University where members of the University community could buy fresh vegetables, at least, once a week,” he said.

Abdul Rahman assured the faculty that the University Management would support the faculty to provide effective training to the students.

Presenting some of the harvests to the vice-chancellor at the screen house, the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Head of the Department of Agronomy, Dr. Abdullahi Ibrahim Jaji, thanked the vice-chancellor for supporting the faculty to initiate the project.  

He said that the world has gone digital in agricultural practices and FULafia cannot be left behind. 

He said that among the many benefits of the screen house cultivation “is the fact that production can be done throughout the year and, if properly managed, can reduce the use of insecticide use by about 50 percent.

He listed other benefits to include improved productivity,  control of luminosity and temperature, heating fuel savings and less expense in watering.

He said that the success of the screen house project depended on the commitment and contributions from both the staff and students of the faculty.