‘Ise Agbe, ise ile wa, eni ko shi she ama ja le, ewe ki ko, nie si ada, ati oko,…ko ipe ooo rara ko ipe oo’- the above song is a popular Yoruba rhyme in south-west Nigeria, which means, ‘the farm work, is the work of our land, he who does not work, will surely steal…going to school without handling the hoe & cutlass is not a complete education, yes it’s not a complete’.
Those where the rhyme that was used to promote farming among college students in those days, the aim was to encourage students not just to acquire a formal education but have a skill in addition, and using what was obtainable, around us was farming, but behold today it’s a dilemma because even agricultural graduate cannot ‘handle the hoe’ not by the fault of theirs; I will tell you why from sharing the experience from my SIWES training some years back.
The Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) is a skills training programme that forms part of the approved academic curriculum for science based course for award of degree at all Nigerian Higher Institutions of learning. It is an effort to bridge the divide that exists between theory and practical work of engineering, technology, agriculture, medicine and the management sciences, as learnt from this various institutions of learning. For those of us in Bachelor of Agriculture Degree, the minimum weeks for the work experience should be twenty-four (24) weeks in an idea sitting. It is a tripartite programme that includes the Students, the Institution and the Industry, where the said work is to be carried out. The programme is funded by the Federal Government of Nigeria and is jointly coordinated by the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and the National Universities Commission (NUC).
However more specifically, the aims of the programme include the following:
i. To provide an avenue for tertiary institution students across the country in the sciences to acquire industrial skills and experience in their course of study.
ii. To prepare students for the work experience they are likely to meet on graduation.
iii. To expose students to work methods and techniques in handling equipment and machines that may be available or not in their various institutions.
iv. To make transition from the academic environment into the labour market easier, and thus enhancing students’ contacts for better networking and job placement after school.
v. To afford students the opportunity to apply all theoretical knowledge so far learnt in class to a real work situation. Thereby bridging the gap between acquired knowledge and applied knowledge.
vi. To involve employers of labour in the educational/training process of University Graduates making them employable in their industries.
I had my experience at the University of Agriculture Makurdi Teaching and Research Farm where the farm was broadly divided into the Agronomy Farm and Livestock Farm alias Animal Farm.
Lesson Leant
The following are some lesson learnt during my work experience at the agronomy session:-
· That for any farm enterprise to be successful or profitable the management practice is top on the list of necessary input.
· Learnt how to carry out soil survey/soil analysis
· Saw practically crop production process
· Appreciate better the issue of soil management, through my personal involvement in the analysis process.
· Had a better idea and understanding of the principles of fertilizer/insecticide application.
· Leant the importance of proper record keeping in the farm enterprise.
· Learnt how to carry out a post mortem
· Leant some basic feed formulation and supplementary feed process
· Saw practically most farm equipment leant in class
· Leant that customers/consumers taste must be considered in whatever breeding system one employs in livestock enterprise.
· Had a better idea and understanding of the principles of drug/vaccination administration to farm animals.
· Saw some management practice first-hand e.g. Castration
· Leant about the ability of goat milk to be used for asthma treatment and that of sheep for arthritis
· Leant the importance of proper record keeping in the farm enterprise.
Observation/Challenges
The following are my observation and challenges:
· Observed that the School had no commercial farm
· No proper dress code for technical staff
· The Soil Science laboratory lacked many important equipment and reagents needed for experiment. And alternative source of electricity apart from the public supply.
· The safety and health of crops/animals were taken serious than that of the personnel, because most safety equipment/materials were not available or not in sufficient quantity. e.g. Rain Boat, Gloves, Farm Coat/Jacket, Nose mask e.t.c
· Had no proper or long access to farm equipment due to insufficiency
· Observed that funds were not adequate to run the farm, because most things were being managed.
· Observed that there was no personnel clinic on the farm/laboratory on the farm
· Observed that technical staffs are not properly identified that is, carrying a name tag with description for easy identification by visitors
· Observed that the security measure on the farm is poor, because, they are trespass all around.
· Observed that the animal stock on the farm were small or absent in some cases
· No proper dress code for technical staff
· Had transportation difficulty
· Had no proper or long access to farm equipment due to insufficiency
· Observed that funds were not adequate to run the farm, because most things were being managed.
· Observed that technical staffs are not properly identified that is, carrying a name tag with description for easy identification by visitors
· Observed that the security measure on the farm is poor, because, they are trespass all around.
Therefore based on the challenges I faced and what I observed, I made the following recommendation, beat you me I was not the first to have made such recommendation, those before me should have done the same: that the following be done or put in place to improve on the management of the farm and makes the farm better prepared to receive the next SIWES students:-
· Advocate that the budget for the running of the farm be increased and released as at when due.
· That the farm be fenced to avoid trespass
· The farm should go commercial with modern equipment
· Information from research done on the farm be-made available and shared with the University committee through a journal or establishment of a village radio.
· More emphases are laid on practical work than lectures during SIWES.
· Welfare and safety of farm personnel be taken seriously.
· Laboratories are well equipped and staffed.
Going back 2 years after my Industrial Training, the farm situation has gotten worst, how then will their education be complete without ‘hoe & cutlass’. If the aim core aim of the SWISS programme must be achieved, beyound just been a requirement for the award of a university degree, Government and management of the scheme must ensure that needed funds and materials are provided, because if this skills are indeed transferred during the programme, most students would start-up their farms after graduation, and give jobs to others this will help reduce the burden of employment on the Nation. With the little I learnt with my friends, two now has a big poultry farm with over 1500 birds in combination, another a piggery/turkey farm, another a snail farm, and the list goes on, while yours truly consult with them all and other that seek my services on management of their business and fish farming.
In summary, I must admit that this programme or work experience changed my perception about crop/animal production. I now see the uniqueness, and diversity of the field of crop/animal production and its useful to the Nigerian dream of being among, the twenty leading economy of the world come year 2020.
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