As plans to boost plantain and pineapple production, the National Horticultural Research Institute(NIHORT) on Monday trained about 45 farmers on the use of modern technology in Edo state.
In his welcome address, Abayomi Olaniyan, the Executive Director of NIHORT, said the training was crucial in building and enhancing the capacity of plantain and pineapple farmers in the state.
“Plantain is a unique and important food security crop and an important source of income for smallholder farmers.
“The training would help the farmers and stakeholders to incorporate recent scientific advances and technology into the production of plantain and pineapple.
“Plantain is a low-capital agribusiness, comparatively lucrative and adaptable to almost every Nigeria soil,” he said.
Olaniyan, who noted that the training would expose the participants on how to turn plantain waste into wealth, added that the stems of plantain are good source of fibres for industrial ropes, mats and fancy hats among others.
While noting that the crops were grown throughout the country, he said Nigeria is the leading plantain and pineapple producer in Africa as well as the seventh country on the world list of pineapple producers.
He opined that increased plantain and pineapple production would help to ensure food security, job creation and launch the country on the path of self-sufficiency .
He, however, explained that it was important to create awareness among stakeholders and deliberately cultivate a widespread attitude of employing improved production techniques in the production of the crops.
In his remark, Major General Garba Mohammed (RTD), the chairman, governing board of NIHORT, urged the farmers to take the training seriously.
Mohammed said plantain and pineapple were important economic and food security crops capable of generating employment.
“The present administration under President Muhammadu Buhari has encouraged numerous capacity-building programmes such as this for better performance in various commodity value chains,” he added.
Also speaking, the state commissioner for Agriculture and Natural resources, Richard Edebiri, commended the management of NIHORT for bringing the training programme to Edo.
Edebiri noted that Edo was the largest producer of plantain and pineapple in the country
He added that the state government recently partnered the lnternational Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) on the development of 40 varieties of plantain and pineapple suckers for farmers in the state.
The commissioner, however, urged the farmers to take advantage of the new method of multiplying plantain and pineapple suckers for increased productivity.
