ibironkeeniola 
The Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB) has begun the sale of yams, through its Community-Based Farming Scheme (COBFAS).
The Principal Agricultural Officer of COBFAS, Mr Augustine Kuforiji, noted that the ongoing yam sale was part of efforts by the Centre to ensure food sufficiency following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He added that the yams are currently being sold at reasonable prices, following a market survey conducted by the body.
Kuforiji noted that despite comments by some university members to get the yams for free, the body decided to put them up for sale following the harsh economic situation in the country.
The centre was able to produce enough to suit the needs of the people, despite the challenges faced as a result of the global pandemic, he noted.
“The input this year is commensurate with the output even though we cannot give full assessment yet because we are still harvesting.
“Meanwhile, we should have had more and bigger products than this, but due to the climate change and the shortfall of rain in the second quarter to the beginning of the third quarter, we were a little bit challenged but the sizes we have seen so far are quite good and people have been patronising us,” he stated.
On his part, the Director of the scheme, Prof Sunday Adigbo noted that the financial support from the university was instrumental to the overall success of the harvest.
He commended members of staff of COBFAS for the teamwork and cooperation, noting that COBFAS has about 1.2 hectares of yam plantation.
According to him, the university was lucky to have a bountiful harvest this year, despite the challenges it encountered.
He said, “We planted November last year and it did well. Though we were faced with challenges like labour and stagnation of rain, we were still able to come out with bountiful harvest.
“There was the cessation of rain from July till around the second week of September. We were lucky, unlike other crops that failed”.
SOURCE: AGRONIGERIA