UI Delegates Visit FUNAAB to Explore Farm Practical Year Programmes at COBFAS
A delegation from the University of Ibadan (UI) visited the Center for Community Based Farming Scheme (COBFAS) at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) to explore and learn from FUNAAB’s Farm Practical Year (FPY) Programmes.
Chris Oyeoku Okafor 
A high-level delegation from the University of Ibadan (UI) visited the Center for Community Based Farming Scheme (COBFAS) at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) on June 24, 2024, to study FUNAAB’s Farm Practical Year (FPY) Programmes. The delegation, led by Prof. Olufemi Adebiyi and Dr. Oyeyemi Dada from UI’s Faculty of Agriculture, aimed to adopt and enhance UI’s practical training by emulating FUNAAB’s successful model.
Prof. Adebiyi, expressing UI’s interest in improving its practical training, highlighted the benefit of learning from FUNAAB’s continuous year-long FPY Programme. Unlike UI’s segmented approach across different academic levels, FUNAAB’s programme spans a full calendar year, focusing on equipping students with comprehensive agricultural skills.
“We have our own practical training, but we believe in improvement. When we see something good, we appreciate it, copy it, and enhance it. That is why we are here to see how you run your practical year,” Prof. Adebiyi remarked.
Welcoming the UI delegation, Prof. Sunday Adigbo, Director of COBFAS, underscored FUNAAB’s commitment to training students to be self-reliant in the agricultural sector rather than mere job seekers. He detailed that FUNAAB’s FPY Programme covers a wide array of courses including Tree Cropping, Arable Crops, Vegetables, Soil Fertility Management, Crop Protection, and Agrometeorology.
The visit also shed light on COBFAS’s organizational structure, with discussions involving Deputy Directors for academic and farm operations, alongside farm officers.
Previously, institutions like Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), Ambrose Ali University (AAU), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), and Taraba State University had visited COBFAS to study its operations.
The UI delegation’s visit signifies a collaborative effort towards enhancing agricultural education and practical training across Nigerian universities.
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