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ENCOURAG NG

TURE O
CTICAL A
GRICUL
PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE OVER
VER
PRA CTICAL A GRICUL TURE O VER
PRA
CHINGS
THEORETICAL TEACHINGS
CHINGS
THEORETICAL TEA
THEORETICAL TEA
- G O R A P L U K A G O D W I N
INTRODUCTION the challenges of the future. The people need to be
adequately involved in practical agriculture to enable
ractical Agriculture is meant to train people in them acquire the necessary skills and knowledge
various aspects of Agriculture as a means for that will make them have a good choice of future
Ppoverty eradication, self-reliance and National career. This will give them the opportunity to choose
Development. The population of Nigeria is rising, we between paid jobs and self-employment.
are urbanised, and the demand for food is rising.
Nigeria is spending all its money importing food from The Importance of Practical Agriculture
other parts of the world and currently, Nigeria is the
largest importer of wheat in the world, accounting for Every country in the world depends on agriculture for
about 85 of 90 percent of wheat import from the one thing or another. Here are the reasons why
United States. Nigeria is the world's largest importer practical agriculture is important: It is the main
of rice and yet if you go all the way from Sokoto to source of raw materials, It is important to
Bayelsa in the Mangrove area, you can grow rice. international trade, It plays a big role in a nation’s
revenue, It provides employment, It is crucial to a
Agriculture country’s development, It can help heal the
environment, It is the source of our food supply, The
The term Agriculture, is derived from two Latin words: state of practical agriculture reflects our future.
“ager”, meaning field, and “cultura”, meaning
cultivation. By this statement, agriculture means field Means by which Practical Agriculture can be
cultivation. This is not however a complete definition Revived in the Society
of agriculture since agriculture also has to do with
animal production. Iwena (2002) defines agriculture As it is well known, agriculture today needs a lot of
as the production of crops and animals for man’s use. capital. Farm tools and machinery which are needed
for large-scale production are not within the reach of
Practical Agriculture the People because of their high cost. For the people
to be properly involved in practical agriculture,
Practical agriculture is the fundamental principle of appropriate training facilities and conducive learning
returning man to the farm. According to Tokuyo environment must, as a matter of necessity, be made
University of Agriculture Journal (2001), practical available. Efforts should also be made by every tier of
agriculture remains a vital component and government to design, plan and implement
constituent of vocational study in agriculture. programmes that will encourage and stimulate the
people to stay in their various localities instead of
Attitude of People Towards Practical Agriculture
moving to urban areas where land is not often
The youths in the various higher institutions today available for large-scale agricultural production.
have negative attitude towards practical agriculture- Conclusion
the reason being that most of them are from rural
farming families having detailed knowledge of Promoting the attitudes of the people towards
traditional agriculture gained from their parents. practical agriculture will not only make them
Most of them have this view that their parents are contribute their own quota to the national
only practising skills inherited from their forefathers. development but also make them to be self-reliant;
Oguntowo (1992), as cited by Muibi (2005), notes that, thereby improving their own means of livelihood.
agricultural science students have strong belief that
the agriculture presented by the teacher appears not
to be significantly different from the one being
practised by their parents. Adewoye (1993), as cited by Works Cited
Muibi (2005), observes with great concern that
agriculture has remained unattractive to young Adewoye, B. A. (2005). The role of agricultural technology institutions in the
sustainable youth
people in Nigeria because it is still being practised empowerment in Nigeria. Journal of Nigeria Association of Teachers of
under the primitive method which is very labourious Technology.
18(1), 101-103.
and untidy. Iwena, O. A. (2002). Essential agricultural science for senior secondary
schools.Tonad
The Need for People's Involvement in Practical Publishers Limited.
Muibi, I. A. (2005). Empowering youths in tertiary institutions in Nigeria
Agriculture through practical
agriculture. Journal of Nigeria Association of Teachers of Technology. 18 (1),
‘Practical’, which is the art of learning by doing makes 348-349.
Tokyo University (2001). Definition of Practical Agriculture, Tokys University of
learning more permanent. The need to imbibe the Agriculture
value of dignity of labour by the Nigerian youth must Journal (50-54).
not be handled with levity in order to prepare him/her
for an all-round development so as to be able to face