Forty-eight secondary schools are benefiting from 91 agricultural projects at the behest of the School Agriculture Programme (SAP) of Lagos State government.

While meeting with school principals, vice principals and agricultural science teachers in the state, Commissioner for Agriculture, Toyin Suarau, said agriculture is the only sector that can engage a lot of youths and it is pertinent to make it more attractive.

He said the government was ready to produce “agropreneurs” in the various agricultural value chains such as poultry, aquaculture as well as crop production.

According to Suarau, the purpose of the project is to train students in modern farming methods, as well as further stimulate agriculture interest and awareness among students in public secondary schools in the state.

The commissioner disclosed that presently 52 SAP projects have been established in 48 schools across the state, and government is set to establish additional 39 in different value-chains to make up 91 agricultural projects in Lagos public schools.

He said that the 2016 financial year has provided for 39 SAP projects in 39 schools out of the 48 schools that have been benefiting from the programme, saying that six schools will be empowered in poultry inputs, another five with fisheries inputs and the remaining 28 with vegetables inputs.

“The development of both practical and commercial skills in agriculture needs to be promoted with the aim of empowering students with cognate knowledge of agriculture to compliment the theoretical aspect taught within the four walls of the classrooms,” the commissioner said.

He stressed that the SAP projects were aimed at ensuring that the students’ future involvement in agricultural activities was guaranteed as the farming population is now growing old.