LANDMARK
UNIVERSITY
OMU-ARAN, KWARA STATE.
EXECUTIVE ADVANCE PROGRAMME
NOVEMBER, 2014
DEVELOPING VIABLE
RESEARCH CLUSTERS IN LMU
BY PROF. OLUSOLA. O. AGBEDE
HOD CROP & SOIL SCIENCES
LANDMARK UNIVERSITY
DEVELOPING VIABLE RESEARCH CLUSTERS
PREAMBLE
• In line with the Agricultural revolution
mandate of Landmark University which
aims to combat poverty, unemployment
and food insecurity, in the country viable
result-oriented programs that are
potentially capable of transforming and
proffering practical solutions to current
challenges in agriculture in general must
be put in place for rigorous and
aggressive pursuit.
• The revolutionary research
programmes should lead to the
production of sufficient food
internally to feed students, staff and
sell excess to our immediate
environment, the Nation and export.
• Research activities at Landmark would
be interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary
& transdisciplinary (uniting two
elsewhile antagonistic cultures such
as Science and Humanities) which
deals with convergence of knowledge
for higher purposes.
• We need to train our students, staffs
and farmers on profitable, sustainable
and modern techniques of agricultural
(Crops and Animals) production.
• Climate changes with its attendant
erratic rainfall pattern, high
temperatures affect rain fed crops
which produce very poor yields had
become global problem that demand
adaptation and mitigation.
• Problems of new emerging pests,
diseases and weeds with inadequate
management skill by farmers
demand urgent and sustainable
solution.
• Provision of adequate protein-richdiet especially within the rural poorresource farming communities.
• Menace of nomadic herdsmen to
crop and life of farmers.
RESEARCH FOCAL
AREAS / CLUSTERS
S/N FOCAL AREAS
1
Global Food
Production
and Food
Security
Research
COMPONENT RESEARCH THEMES
 Hybrid crop varieties development.
 Green house production and
management
 Soil Fertility management (SFM)
 Irrigation design and water management.
 Animal improvement (breeding) and
 Climate change adaptation and
mitigation.
S/N
2
FOCAL AREAS
COMPONENT RESEARCH THEMES
Climate
 Improving the Photosynthesis of crops
Change and
such as cereals and legumes.
Environmental  Stress tolerance, photosynthesis and
Impact
yields of crops under tropical conditions
e.g. biomass production of the crops
under low and high temperatures and
high radiation.
 Securing water-in-food transformations
to improve the use of water throughout
the food chain.
 Improved germplasm and increasing
resource use efficiency.
S/N
2
FOCAL AREAS
COMPONENT RESEARCH THEMES
Climate
 Working to stabilize crop yields in the
Change and
face of new and emerging disease
Environmental
threats.
Impact
 Developing systems of modeling,
monitoring and managing water use and
ensuring water quality.
 Developing farmer adaptation strategies.
 Utilizing plant and crop systems diversity.
 Engaging indigenous knowledge and
associated plant genetic base
 Development of dual purpose crops to
provide both food and fuel.
S/N FOCAL AREAS
3
Soil
Assessment
And
Conservation
for Food
Security
COMPONENT RESEARCH THEMES
 Understanding plant-soil interaction to
improve crop architecture.
 Use of X-ray Computer Technology to provide
images on soil and plant roots without
destructive sampling.
 Effects of soil compaction on crop root
growth, root hair quality on nutrient uptake.
 Use of medical and biodiversity to improve
crop yield without using more chemical
fertilizers.
 Monitoring Soil physical properties at micro
scale and genetics of plants’ root for nutrient
uptake efficiency and increase crop yield.
S/N
4
FOCAL AREAS
COMPONENT RESEARCH THEMES
Mapping,
extent,
distribution and
remediation of
problem soils in
Guinea
Savannah agroecological zone
of Nigeria.
 Remediation of Acid-affected and saltaffected soils.
 Semi-detailed survey of selected areas
along maize, rice and cassava value
chain.
 Soil
Fertility
evaluation
and
management.
 Train-The-Trainer (TOT) Programmes
and Extension service on Conservation
Agriculture (CA) in selected centres
around the state.
S/N
FOCAL AREAS
COMPONENT RESEARCH THEMES
5
Biotechnology  Establishment of biotechnology centre
Research
as a tool for agricultural growth.
Centre
 Field of Biotechnology Research,
Application and Utilization to greatly
increase food and fibre, animal
production, energy and improve quality
of life.
 Landmark University to make significant
contribution in biotechnology research,
training and application in collaboration
with International Research Institutes in
cash and kind.
S/N FOCAL AREAS
6
Animal
Production
7
Waste
Management
COMPONENT RESEARCH THEMES
 Food Efficiency for both ruminant and nonruminants
 Mitigation of methane from livestock feaces.
 Improving meet quality.
 Waste Management: Minimizing contamination
improving self-life; better packaging, material
design and agricultural practices; and new
manufacturing paradigms.
 Energy Conservation: Improved efficiency in
production and finding multiple use of crop and
waste streams.
 Waste Nutrition: Understanding the impact of
nutrition on human health; providing the optimum
and most bio-accessible nutritional load in our
food; optimizing and modifying nutritional values
through improved plant and animal production;
and having a better understanding of consumer
behaviours and preference.
S/N
7
FOCAL AREAS
Waste
Management
COMPONENT RESEARCH THEMES
 Water Resources: Optimizing use of water in
food production by planning for drought and
floods; having plants and animal that can cope
with the extremes; designing new processes
and ingredient mixes that require minimal
water usage; and manufacturing plants which
recycles/re-use waste ware.
 Primary processing - optimizing raw material
production
 Secondary Process – The Integration of factory
design for energy, water and waste
minimization.
 Tertiary Process – The fate of food during
digestion for optimal nutrient delivery and
impact on human health.
S/N
7
FOCAL AREAS
Waste
Management
COMPONENT RESEARCH THEMES
 Enabling Technologies
 Improved process capabilities.
 Water usage for Purification and efficient
use of water.
 Energy delivery from water streams in
current manufacturing practices.
 Food safety and spoilage.
 Consumer understanding to minimize waste
 Multiple use of crops/waste streams
 Modification of processing and digestibility
of plant cell walls
S/N
8
FOCAL AREAS
COMPONENT RESEARCH THEMES
Societal impacts
of food research,
production &
consumption.
Valuable research in the field of ethics and social
science will be conducted to examine the
 Complexity of the food system
 Nature of sustainable food production
 How it can be characterized (or framed ) by
different actors ,for example as a political issues
 Social and political factors that impact on
consumption pattern as well as distribution and
production system.
 How the different framing of these issues might
impact on targeted research agendas and policy
responses.
 The claim made regarding biotechnologies
solution.
 The underlying assumption relating to
alternative production system.
S/N
9
FOCAL AREAS
Unpopular
Crops
COMPONENT RESEARCH THEMES
 Discover other crops other than Rice, Wheat
and Maize for nutrition, Animal Feed,
Medicines and other uses.
 Increase the knowledge base of underutilized crops, especially sustained market
access, nutritional security and health
 Identifying and advocating necessary policy
change to promote the use of under-utilized
crops.
 Fostering capacity building about underutilized crops.
S/N
10
FOCAL AREAS
Global Food
Security
Collaborations
and linkages.
COMPONENT RESEARCH THEMES
 University to link with ARCN and other
Research Institutes.
 Liaise with NCAM for Agricultural
Mechanization.
 Recruitment of international Faculty and
students.
 Mutually beneficial collaboration with
FMARD to achieve desired commodity value
chain goals
 Establish journal outlets with International
standards based on the competencies of the
University.
 Seek further Collaborations and Linkages
with renowned foreign Universities.
S/N
10
FOCAL AREAS
COMPONENT RESEARCH THEMES
Global Food
 Staff exchange programme for teaching
Security
and research
Collaborations  Students exchange programme especially
and linkages.
for the practical year (400 level)
 Post-Graduate Development and
scholarship award to our students
 International marketing of our agricultural
products
 Organization of international seminar on
sustainable agricultural production in
developing countries
 Training of our technologists in equipment
use, maintenance and repairs
S/N
11
FOCAL AREAS
Research and
Knowledge
Transfer
COMPONENT RESEARCH THEMES
 Sustainable chemical and biological
processing
 Global food security
 Drugs and energy discovery
 Advanced manufacturing
 Collaborations and partnerships
 Research data management
 Integrating global society
 Center for advanced studies.
 Research group that will maximize the
visibility and impact of LMU research
S/N FOCAL AREAS
COMPONENT RESEARCH THEMES
11
Research and  Securing significant level of external
Knowledge
funding to support research activities at
Transfer
LMU
 Become an Institutional Leaders for their
research topics.
 Incorporating interdisciplinary
Collaboration of international quality.
 Provide a first-class environment for
career development and training.
 Attract high quality staff postgraduates
and strategic partnerships.
S/N
FOCAL AREAS
12
Publications
13
Industry
income
Innovation
COMPONENT RESEARCH THEMES
 Encourage joint research publications and
grant proposals within and outside
Nigeria.
 Improve the webometrics and World Class
ranking of the University.
 Embark on periodic publications of
Research outputs of the University.
 Established a robust Consultancy Unit.
 Empower the LMU consult to render
services to the industrial community.
GENERAL
REMARK
!
• The University management
should quickly put the
Directorate of Research in place.
• Principal Investigators with
research teams should be
appointed to take charge of each
research cluster / focal area.
• Faculty and staff should be
committed to justify the various
position employed to occupy.