The Kano State Government says it will continue to device new ways of addressing post-harvest loss in tomato value-chain.

The Deputy Governor of the state, Alhaji Nasiru Gawuna, said this in Kano while addressing participants at the Round-table Policy Discussion on Post-Harvest Loss Reduction in the Tomato Value-Chain in Kano.

“The State is currently assisting farmers to acquire more knowledge on the new techniques of tomato production.

“Dangote is partnering with our farmers. What we did is to make our farmers more knowledgeable enough on the aspect of tomato production and the ways to overcome the issue of post-harvest loss.

“To this end, Kano is doing very well through the collective efforts of all the stakeholders.

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“I can confirm that in the last two years, the price of fresh tomatoes has been fairly stable. In January 2019, a basket of tomatoes sold at N2,069 and similarly in 2020 emerging prices is N2,970 at the onset of the season has remained fairly stable too,” Gawuna revealed.

He maintained that during these periods, the state did not record any major pest and diseases outbreak, stressing that the state promoted the use of post-harvest technologies such as zero-energy cool chamber and reusable plastic crates to improve small farmers productivity.

Gawuna, who doubles as the State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, disclosed that the present administration under the leadership of Gov. Abdullahi  Ganduje is committed in training and retraining farmers at all levels aimed at enhancing higher productivity.

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He described the forum as timely and assured of the government’s continued support for the sustainance of the programme considering its importance in enhancing agricultural production.

“I want to assure you that our policies will continue to create more impacts on the agricultural production right from cultivation up to the stage of processing and marketing,” he said.

The Deputy Country Director of Technoserve Nigeria, Mrs Ayokanmi Ayuba, explained that the discussion was organised to address the issue of post-harvest loss reduction in the tomato value chain.

“The goal of YieldWise Project is to reduce post-harvest loss by 50 per cent throughout the tomato supply chain and increase average tomato income for 45,000 participating farmers by 50 per cent.

“The project will include farmers in the ‘tomato triangle’ region, including Kano, Jigawa,  Katsina, Kaduna and Plateau  States,” Ayokanmi explained.

She acknowledged the tremendous contributions of Kano state government to the progress of the programme and urged that the tempo be sustained. (NAN)