Though retired, Professor Francis Adekayode is still desirous of adding value to the polity in his area of core competence - agriculture incorporating soil fertility. After he retired from the services of the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), Professor Adekayode founded a Non-Governmental Organization, Dolapo Frank Farmers Organization (DFFO) with the main agenda of driving a Yam Revolution by "significantly improving yam production. DFFO also wants to impart knowledge and practice of sack filled soil in crop production without the search for extensive farmland that may not be readily available because of family hold on land.
Yam is the major crop of focus for the NGO which takes its advocacy to secondary schools and small leaseholder farmers.
The campaign to train smallholder farmers in urban and rural areas on new yam farming initiatives and also stimulate the interest of young people in farming was recently held in Akure alongside a seed yam tuber exhibition by some selected secondary schools at Oyemekun grammar school, Akure.
At the exhibition ground Professor Adekayode explained that yam, as a major food source and cash crop, helps in combating food insecurity, poverty, and improves the nation’s gross domestic product. He said the NGO wants farmers to know some basic techniques of testing soil fertility which will positively affect their yield as the fertility of the soil invariably affect how well what is planted grows. He said the NGO is desirous of stimulating the interest of young people in yam farming.
According to him, "It is important for the young ones to begin to see farming as scientific and and arouse interest of students in farming, specifically crop production."
He said the yam exhibition that took place on the 18th of January 2024, was to showcase seed yam tubers to eliciting interest in other schools through the sensitization event.
According to Professor Adekayode, "the production process, commenced in March 2023, by cutting healthy yam tubers, each weighing about 2 kg, into about 30 minisetts, each weighing about 30 g; treated with a mixture of wood ash and Ridomil fungicide in water suspension. The minisetts were pre-sprouted in moist sawdust and at three to four weeks, the setts sprouted and later transplanted into sack-filled soil. Cured 100g poultry manure was added to each sack, at four weeks after transplanting and staking was carried out with the trellis staking method. In November 2023, at eight months after planting, the seed yam tubers were harvested." He said Impressive seed yam tubers some weighing over 2 kg (2000g) were harvested from minisett tubers weighing 25g to 30g.
Also speaking the Ondo state Chairman of the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Omoloja commended the NGO for the farming initiative, saying that the task of ensuring food security is everybody’s responsibility. He called on the state government to recruit more Agric teachers in their next employment exercise to project the gospel of new farming methods across the nooks and crannies of the state.
