![South Sudan economist and Vice-Chancellor of Dr. John Garang Memorial University, Abraham Matoc, speaking to Sudans Post during an exclusive interview in Juba on Wednesday, February 10, 2020 [Photo by Sudans Post]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sudanspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/imageedit_2_7386212880.jpg?resize=868%2C578&ssl=1)
The vice-chancellor of the university, Prof. Abraham Matoc, revealed this during an interview with Sudans Post on Thursday in Juba.
Matoc said the center will offer a 9-month training program on modern agriculture to students and members of the community.
“Normally, the academic year is always 9 months and every year, we will have to train people. We have already started in a very small way, we have a farm there and if we get the rigs to drill then we will actually continue to train people,” he told Sudans Post on Thursday in Juba.
He said the center will enroll about 50 to 100 students and farmers in its 9-month training program.
“If we have trained manpower in agriculture, the agricultural sector will develop and if the agricultural sector develops, that implies the development of our economy in the country,” he said.
Matoc, who is a professor of economics, said they will train farmers and students on how to grow onions, Irish potatoes, maize, and rice.
“We will introduce the rich, we have already started planning for the rich on campus in Bor, and so the next thing is that we are going to bring it to the Awerial training Center to train people about the rich also because the area is good for rich cultivation,” he said.
“That agricultural training is to train students and also to do some outreach to train the communities on farming and the farming we are taking there is more unique, we are trying to specialize in growing onions, Irish potatoes and then plus maize,” he added.
He believes that maize production will be of a high quality and will definitely result in a reduction in maize imports from Uganda, making people more reliant on their own production.
“We need a few staff to train the number of people in that area, those who have the certificates, we will train them and those without certificates, we will also train them in outreach, and we will provide them with some certificates,” he said.
He hoped the training center would actually grow into not only an institute but a college of agriculture in the long run.
“Soon, if things go well, we will put in place some structures that will make it look more like a university training center,” he said.
“The agriculture we will do in Awerial will be year-round. We will introduce irrigation and solar power, as we have already installed solar panels on the university campus.”
In January 2023, Awerial County in Lakes State allocated 1,000m by 500m land to the Dr. John Garang Memorial University of Science and Technology in Mingkaman town to establish the training center.
