Farming System Research

Dr. Abdulazeez Shero

ABOUT THE PROGRAMME

The Programme focuses on identification of farming constraints, analysis of farming systems and the development/testing of appropriate technologies for IAR mandate crops. The Programme seeks to capture actual farmer circumstances and situations into the research process as a means of ensuring mass adoption of new agricultural technologies and also to provide government with policy options concerning appropriate institutional support to rapid agricultural development of the country. The Programme strives to improve agricultural production and income through relevant researches to mitigate farm constraints in north-western Nigeria.

OUR VALUES

The Programme strives to optimize the integration of all the critical components of agricultural production, utilization and sustainable use of resources for enhanced income, alleviate poverty, create jobs and enhance growth in the agricultural sector.

OUR GOALS

To develop a resilient agricultural system through relevant researches by identification and analysis of farming systems components and their inter-relationship with the view to develop and deploy appropriate technologies and policies to optimize the performance of the system.

LEADERSHIP/HEADSHIP

GENERAL OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME IS TO:

1. Understand the farmer and his farm environment (including the soil and weather conditions) as a system of inter-dependent components involving both technical and socio-economic considerations.
2. Permit the entire process of research, including the identification of farming constraints (including soil, weather conditions and livestock interactions), the analysis of farming systems and the development of appropriate technologies for IAR mandated crops and their testing, to be carried out by interdisciplinary teams of IAR scientists or in collaboration with scientists from other organization.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES ARE TO:

1. Conduct soil surveys and fertility mapping of north western states and Nigeria in general.
2. Collect data, analyze, identify gaps and develop/test technologies to address these gaps existing in farmer managed production systems for economic enhancement of the agricultural production systems in Nigeria.
3. Develop good data systems on extant crop production (sole and mixtures) figures and the extent of crop/livestock integration (including fisheries and agroforestry) in the Nigerian agricultural food systems.
4. Develop climate-responsive/resilient research through the utilization of climate information for crop/livestock production as climate change mitigation and adaptive measures.
5. Develop sustainable and improved technologies on maintenance of soil health, cropping systems (planting patterns, mixed/intercropping), crop protection, tillage, fertilizer and crop management in the crop production using a multidisciplinary approach.
6. Demonstrate proven crop intensification technologies (crop varieties/cropping systems) on-station and on-farm for improved crop production across agro-ecologies in Nigeria.
7. Identify and study existing farm groups/social organizations towards access to insurance, loans, input delivery, agric. extension and market systems and to share indigenous knowledge for their agricultural production units as well as serve as linkages.

To achieve these objectives, the Programme is mandated to conduct surveys, on-station and on farm researches and village level studies.

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

The activities of the Programmes are therefore organized under the following projects and sub-projects structure (Figure 1):

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                                       Figure 1: Structure of the IAR Farming Systems Research Programme

RESEARCH QUALITY CONTROL COMMITTEE (2017- to Date)

RESEARCH TEAM (2017- to Date)

I.U. Abubakar                                     -                       Agronomy

B. Ahmed                                           -                      Agric. Economics

O. Yusuf                                             -                      Agric. Economics

U. F. Chiezey                                      -                      Agronomy

A. A.Yusuf                                         -                      Soil Science

E.N.O. Iwuafor                                   -                      Soil Science

N. M. Eche                                          -                       Soil Science

D.A. Labe                                           -                       Agronomy

O. Goma                                             -                       Agronomy

M.W. Musa                                         -                       Agric. Extension & R/Devt

O.O. Olufajo                                       -                       Agronomy

J.A.Y. Shebayan                                 -                       Agronomy

A.  B. Lawal                                      -                      Agronomy

E. O. Uyovbisere                                -                       Soil Science

M. A. Mahadi                                     -                       Agronomy

I.S. Usman                                          -                       Plant Science

S. Umar                                               -                      Agric. Extension & R/ Devt

L.J. Bamaiyi                                        -                       Crop Protection

A.S. Isah                                             -                       Agronomy

A.B. Zarafi                                          -                       Crop protection

T.K. Atala                                           -                       Agric. Extension & R/ Devt

L.L. Yakubu                                       -                       Agric. Extension & R/ Devt

P.S. Chindo                                         -                       Crop Protection

S. M. Bugaje                                       -                       Plant Science

H. A. Yusuf (Mrs.)                              -                       Agric. Extension & R/ Devt

L. Arunah                                            -                       Agronomy

J. Owolabi                               .           -                       Agric. Extension & R/ Devt

R. Suleiman                                         -                       Agric. Extension & R/ Devt  

A.I. Gabasawa                                    -                       Soil Science

A.C. Odunze                                       -                       Soil Science

S.E.L. Alao                                         -                       Crop Protection

M. Oyekunle                                       -                       Plant Science

N.M. Saddiq                                       -                       Agric. Extension & R/ Devt

Y.B. Dodo                                          -                       Agric. Extension & R/ Devt

C.K. Daudu                                        -                       NAERLS

J. Omeke                                             -                       NAERLS

B.T. Magaji                                         -                       Crop Protection

R.S. Adamu                                        -                       Crop Protection

B. Muhammed                                   -                       Crop Protection