Philosophy of the Faculty
The assistance of the experts from Michigan State University was reflected in the provision and laying out of the facilities in the Faculty which were intended to provide for effective teaching, learning and research in all areas of agriculture. The founding fathers of the Faculty set aside more than 209 ha of farm land to take care of field crops, plantation crops, cattle paddocks and production units for poultry, sheep/goat, pigs and rabbits with each unit having necessary farm structures and enabling modern facilities for effective practical training of students in the various areas of agriculture. In addition to these, there were:
- Functional agricultural mechanization department equipped with an engineering workshop, assorted tractors, ploughs, harrows, ridgers, boom sprayers, silage harvesters and other simple equipment and tools.
- A multipurpose abattoir with facilities for slaughter, meat chilling and packing services. It was in the plan of the founding fathers that the faculty abattoir will be connected with rail route from Eha – Amufu so that trade cattle from Northern Nigeria will be brought to the faculty by rail for fattening, slaughter and supply of good quality beef to different urban cities in Eastern Nigeria. This dream was aborted by the sudden eruption of the Nigerian civil war.
- Irrigation lines with hydrants running in parallel lines across the flat plateau of the farmland for all season production of staple crops by sprinkler irrigation.
- Concrete water reservoir located on the dairy hill fed with water from the faculty bore hole in the valley below which supplied water by gravity for the sprinkler irrigation and to the different farm units.
- Fully automated green houses with facilities for research in soil and crop related agricultural problems.
- Well equipped laboratories for all departments properly stocked with relevant equipment and supplies.
- Fully automated feed mill with silos and stores for storage of feed ingredients and manufactured feeds.
- Automatic egg incubator and hatcher with refrigerated egg storage room.
- Well constructed silage pits for production of silage for feeding of ruminants (Dairy and beef cattle, sheep/goats) during the dry season.
- About 50ha of pastures separated into paddocks and planted up with high quality pasture grasses and legumes.
The above state-of-the-art facilities as provided at inception by the founding fathers were unfortunately vandalized during the Nigerian civil war that lasted for three years (1967 – 1970). At the end of the war, most of the facilities were re-habilitated with the assistance of international agencies, the Federal government and other stakeholders. A few years after the civil war (early 1970’s) the Faculty initiated the review of her academic programmes based on the conviction that the graduates of agriculture required more knowledge in general agriculture to perform well as agricultural officers in the Ministry and as managers of large scale agricultural enterprises, than was the case with early specialization in different areas of agriculture adopted from inception.
The Faculty of Agriculture, University of Nigeria, Nsukka has indeed rendered meritorious service to the nation and the entire humanity for the past 50 years. It has produced thousands of high quality Bachelors degree, M.Sc and Ph.D holders currently serving in different parts of the world.
