NIHORT Trains Youths on Tomato Production in Ibadan

One hundred unemployed youths from Ten states of the Federation have been trained on Pumpkin and Tomato value chain in Ibadan.

The training which was part of Federal Government initiative to promote diversification from oil through youths participation in agriculture was organized by National Horticultural Research Institution, NIHORT Ibadan in collaboration with Hauge Nigeria limited.

In a welcome address, the Executive Director, NIHORT, Dr. Abayomi Olaniyan said about 1.8 million tones of tomato is produced annually in Nigeria adding that the figure still fell short of actual demand put at 2.3 million tones.

Dr Olaniyan explained that demand for pumpkin leaf and fruits are high attributing its low supply in the country due to inadequate knowledge on good agricultural practices.

Declaring the workshop open, Chairman, NIHORT governing board, Retired Major General Garba Muhammed, said pumpkin possessed numerous nutritional value and that 50 percent of tomato produced in Nigeria are lost in transit due to lack of preservation.

Retired General Muhammed who said the training became imperative so as to contribute to economic development, urged the youths to make good use of the training to become self reliant.

Some of the participants lauded the initiative and pledged to translate knowledge acquired to field practice.

They however appealed to Federal Government to sustain the program for the benefit of other less privileged youths in the country.

The training formed second phase in the series of training of the institution this years.

Rotimi Famakin