NSPRI Supports Osun Farmers with Post-Harvest Kits
Segun Adegoke,
The Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI), on Thursday, distributed improved post-harvest storage facilities to selected farmer groups in Osun State.
According to Dr Funmi Ilesanmi, the Zonal Coordinator, NSPRI Ibadan, the gesture was the federal government’s way of boosting agricultural yield in the State.
She said NSPRI as an Institute was poised to ensure improved storage facilities get to farmers all across the country.
At the event in Iwo, Iwo Local Government Area of Osun State, three post-harvest storage facilities were introduced and distributed: Smoking Kiln, Ice Fish Box and Hermetic Steel Drum.
Ilesanmi said the distribution of the facilities was an effort to improve post-harvest handling and safety of agricultural commodities in Nigeria.
The Zonal Coordinator, who enlightened beneficiaries on how to make judicious use of the facilities, appealed to them to take advantage of the storage facilities to prevent post harvest losses.
The Coordinating Director, Osun State Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mrs Gbemisola Fayoyin, in her remarks, commended the Institute for reaching out to farmers in the state.
Fayoyin said that the present economic reality in the country warranted the need to preserve and store food items more adequately for the benefit of the masses, adding that it would also boost farmers’ earnings across the state.
The General Manager of Osun State Agricultural Development Programme (OSSADEP), Mr Rasak Lasisi also commended NSPRI for its effort and urged it not to relent.
Lasisi said the modern storage facilities would have a positive multiplier effect on Osun farmers’ productivity and income, since one of the major problems farmers in the state face had been solved.
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