By Olasunkanmi Olajide & Femi Dansu
In a strategic push for food security and healthier living, Prof. Akinola Popoola, a renowned Plant Pathologist from the Department of Crop Protection, College of Plant Science and Crop Production (COLPLANT), Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), has advocated for the widespread adoption of portable screenhouses for household-level farming in Nigeria.
Delivering the University’s 103rd Inaugural Lecture today, May 14, 2025, and titled “Biotechnology and Plant Pathology: An Eclectic Approach to Plant Disease Management,” Prof. Popoola revealed that a 10m x 10m screenhouse equipped with irrigation accessories, growth bags, and weed mats could be constructed for less than ₦3 million, an affordable, long-term investment for families seeking to grow safe and healthy food.
The former Director of FUNAAB’s Biotechnology Centre emphasised that screenhouse cultivation of vegetables offers a sustainable solution to the country’s agricultural challenges, especially in urban and peri-urban areas.
He urged households to embrace the technology, describing it as both innovative and cost-effective.
Speaking further, Prof. Popoola recommended that funded agricultural research should deliberately aim to produce patentable or commercialisable outcomes, capable of driving socioeconomic development. He also called for capacity-building programmes targeted at elite farmers to equip them with modern and sustainable farming techniques.
Highlighting the critical role of research and development in agricultural advancement, the 103rd Inaugural Lecturer passionately advocated for increased funding for research institutions and a more efficient funding disbursement process. He criticised the current model in which a percentage of approved grants was withheld by funding agencies, describing it as detrimental to timely project execution. He proposed a trust-based system that allowed full disbursement of grants through institutional accounting frameworks.
*Credit: Gbolahan Lawal*
Prof. Popoola, the Principal Investigator of the TETFund-sponsored Tomato Agronomic Iodine Biofortification Project, also underscored the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in solving complex plant disease challenges. He encouraged young researchers to prayerfully and consultatively choose their areas of specialisation and to embrace modern diagnostic tools for crop health monitoring.
Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Babatunde Kehinde, commended Prof. Popoola for his scholarly contributions, noting that he has authored 83 journal articles, three book chapters, seven refereed conference proceedings, and one technical report, totalling 94 academic publications.
Represented by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic, Prof. Olukayode Akinyemi, the Vice-Chancellor further stated that Prof. Popoola has supervised two Ph.D and 14 Masters graduates and has co-supervised 15 Ph.D. and 25 Masters students. Over his 23-year career, the Vice-Chancellor noted that he has successfully mentored more than 200 B.Agric graduates, adding that he has also served as a Professorial Assessor for several Nigerian universities, including the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), among others.
