Prof Badayi Mohammed-Sani , of the Department of Economics, Bayero University, Kano says that mechanised agriculture would be achieved when iron and steel industries are developed.
Mohammed-Sani made this known during a seminar of the 43rd Kaduna International Trade Fair organized by the Kaduna Chamber of Commerce Industry,Mines and Agriculture (KADCCIMA)
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the seminar had the theme “Re-strategizing Nigeria’s economy for global competitiveness”.
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According to him, Nigeria’s status in global competitiveness is at the bottom as such the country needs to restrategise to achieve global competitiveness.
He identified the agricultural and industrial sectors as the major sectors to be improved to achieve national development.
‘We have to modernize and transform our agriculture and this can be achieved by developing our iron and steel industry so that we can make our equipment to use for agriculture.
“Agriculture should be made a business that can sustain itself against the subsistence farming practiced by most Nigerian farmers,” he said.
He added that industry sector could also be used to achieve competitiveness by developing a domestic technology that would manufacture or modify the imported equipment, raw materials and spare parts used in industries.
According to him, the heavily dependence on imported material has made whatever gained by industries in terms of output is lost through high cost of equipment, raw material and spare parts.
NAN reports that students, academicians and government officials attended the seminar. (NAN)
