..Redirects Igbos Back to Indigenous Crop/Foods
The eleventh Faculty Lecture and third in the young geniuses series of the Faculty of Agriculture, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, (NAU), Awka Anambra State went down recently at the Faculty auditorium, where an Ideato born lecturer Lady Ogechukwu Umeh PhD of the Department of Crop Science and Horticulture took the center stage and shone like million stars as she dissected and dished out her well articulated thought provoking and life changing lecture that kept her audience glued to their seats.
The lecture titled “Improving Underutilized Indigenous Crops In South Eastern Nigeria: A Panacea to Food Security” was fashioned as a crucial step towards achieving food security in the region. Earlier, in the lecture, Dr. Umeh among other definitions, explanations, and elaborations defined underutilized crops as crops with under exploited potential in contribution to food security, health, income generation and environmental services.
Through her lecture, Dr Umeh redirect the Igbos back to indigenous crop/foods by recommending the establishment of indigenous food restaurants and agricultural market gardens in all universities not forgetting individual homes in the zone and establishing a decree for serving of locally made foods in conferences, seminars and workshops.
She highlighted some of the underutilized indigenous crops, their importance and submitted that from her unbiased research experiments they are superior in nutritional composition, prevention and treatment of disease, climate resilient, less input for production and a source for livelihood.
Some of the these underutilized crops among us included Pumpkin (ugboguru/anyu), Bitter kola (aki ilu), Scent leave (nchauńu), African bitter yam (ona), African palm weevil (eruru ngwo), Black pepper (uda), palm wine (mmanyi nkwu/nkwo), Roasted yam with palm oil (ji ahuru ahu na mmanu nkwu), Kidney beans (odudu/idudu), African salad (hiahia). From her practical research experiments findings, pumpkin has all it takes to prevent and treat prostrate while bitter kola is a grade A anti cancer.
The eloquent lecturer also enumerated some of the challenges facing production and consumption of indigenous crops ranging from production, consumer, policy, market related reasons and above all civilization and religious beliefs.
She went ahead to suggest strategies to improve underutilized indigenous crops by promotion at the family level where she revealed that it is the primary responsibility of Agriculture Extension Officers; community engagement and awareness; farm support and training; seed systems and access; as well as value addition and processing.
Earlier, the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Prof. Cordelia Ebenebe, in her welcome remarks, revealed that the Lecture Series was redesigned to include rising scholars through the Young Geniuses Series, underscoring the Faculty’s mission to drive development through innovative agricultural practices. She also expressed appreciation to attendees for their support.
The Chairman of the Lecture Series, Prof. Gabriel Onyenegecha Ihejirika, in his opening remarks, emphasized that the lecture series serves as a platform for transformative dialogue and the promotion of innovative solutions to the agricultural sector’s pressing challenges. He highlighted the urgent need to confront food insecurity by tapping into underutilized local agricultural assets.
Prof. Ihejirika noted the rich diversity of indigenous crops in Southeastern Nigeria and advocated for a renewed approach to agriculture driven by research, innovation, and policies tailored to local strengths. While commending the Faculty of Agriculture for launching the Geniuses Series and extolled Dr. Umeh for her impactful contributions to academic research.
Declaring the event open, UNIZIK Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Joseph Ikechebelu who was represented by Prof. Angela Ufele-Obiesie acknowledged the critical role of agriculture in national socioeconomic development and applauded the Faculty for its contributions to the sector and commitment to academic excellence.
In his vote of thanks, Prof. Charles Ishiwu praised Dr. Umeh for her insightful presentation and encouraged other scholars to showcase their academic achievements and innovations, appreciating the audience for making the event a success.
