University of Agriculture, Makurdi

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The University of Agriculture in Makurdi, Nigeria is a higher education institution.

In general, the objective of the University of Agriculture, Makurdi (UAM) is to put in place a properly integrated system of teaching, research and extension toward appropriate technology creation, transfer and utilization in Nigerian agriculture. This objective has several specific elements:

• generating high-yielding crop varieties and livestock breeds as well as other efficient agricultural technologies that are sufficiently adapted and relevant to local environments;

• accelerating the diffusion and mass adoption of new technologies on Nigerian farms through effective linkages with state extension services,

• sensitizing researchers to the pressing needs of farmers, agro-industrialists and consumers with respect to production, processing and utilization technologies;

• bringing the fruits of science to the farm-gate in the form, amounts and time that farmers need them most;

• bringing the fruits of science to the doorsteps of agro-industrial establishments in the form, amount and time they are needed most;

• bringing to the attention of agricultural researcher pressing problems on farmers' fields with minimum delay;

• training needed manpower that is consistent with the requirements of an integrated national research-extension system; and

• assisting in substantially raising farm output and incomes of Nigerian farmers as well as marketed quantities of food and fibre.

The University of Agriculture, Makurdi has eighteen departments in five Faculties. They are:

• Faculty of Agronomy

• Faculty of Agricultural Economics and Extension

• Faculty of Engineering

• Faculty of Animal Science and Fisheries

• Faculty of Food Science and Technology

• Faculty of Science.

For outreach and public service support, the University has established a Co-operative Extension Centre (CEC) and a Centre for Food and Agricultural Strategy (CEFAS) which focus on practical agricultural extension liaison support and public policy support services, respectively.

The philosophy of research at the University of Agriculture, Makurdi stresses research that is issues oriented, mission oriented and problem solving. To achieve this research mission, research is multi-disciplinary, as contrasted with traditional conventional approaches in general universities in which research is mainly along disciplinary lines within academic units. Researchers in the University are encouraged and supported to conduct research that cuts across disciplines and academic units.

The following commodity programmes have been delineated for research and extension activities in the University:

• Root and Tubers programme

• Cereals and Legumes programme

• Forestry and Horticulture programme

• Ruminants programme

• Non- ruminants programme

• Farming systems programme

• Socio-economics programme

• Rural infrastructures programme

• Agricultural Mechanization programme

• Environmental and Analytical Studies programme and Food Processing and Utilization programme.

These commodity programmes have been organized to effectively address the practical farming problems of the University's immediate catchment area and the nation at large.

Training at the University emphasizes strong foundations in the disciplines, a broad exposure to all disciplines in agriculture, engineering and science and the acquisition of practical skills in the agricultural and engineering fields. Training at this University recognizes that formal acquisition of scientific skills is necessary but not sufficient for preparing our students to live full lives as accomplished, learned members of an increasingly sophisticated Nigerian Society. More fundamentally, students of this University are taught to acquire new mental attitudes that enable them to distinguish between the rational and the irrational, between toughed and the bad. Students are taught to acquire new value systems that appeal to the higher public good that will ensure happiness for all Nigerians and mankind in general, The University will continue to develop its institutional capacity for inculcating new mental attitudes and independent thought systems in students that will promote objectivity and the relentless search for truth and rationality.

Grassroots relevance is a cardinal quest at the University of Agriculture, Makurdi. The Cooperative Extension Centre through its training and extension liaison services coordinates the outreach programmes. The Centre for Food and Agricultural Strategy coordinates the public service support in food and agriculture. The University is forging linkages that will ensure that agricultural technologies and the output of University research reach average small scale Nigerian farmers, the intended beneficiaries of the University's research and extension programmes.

Institutional linkages are being forged with federal and state Ministries of Agriculture and other related agencies to identify areas of collaboration and technical support from the University. The University is already making its presence felt in Benue State through such collaborative programme and protects. Training programmes are being conducted for participants from other states of the federation.

A cardinal element of the strategy in Makurdi is the effective integration of research, teaching and extension by which all academic staff are expected to devote some proportion of their time to each of these activities.