By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The agriculture reform policy of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration received a further boost yesterday when the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Audu Ogbeh, commissioned a 30 Metric Tonnes per day processing facility in Kaduna.

Since assuming office in May 2015, this government has made it a priority to diversify the nation’s economy, which solely depends on crude oil to earn revenue.

Various policies were put in place to help other sectors of the economy become vibrant and one of them was the agricultural sector.

On Monday, the Minister commissioned the tomato factory established by GB Foods in Kaduna State. Over N2 billion was used to set up the business, which will benefit Nigerians, especially tomato consumers and farmers.

The pilot tomato farm which sits on a 30 hectares space is growing over 15 varieties of tomatoes with an expected average yield of 40-50MT/ha

Speaking during the event, Mr Ogbeh, who was in the accompany of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, said federal government was committed to encouraging local production and processing of tomato and would place a ban on the importation of tomato paste to encourage massive local production.

He added that Nigeria is targeting the next two years to attain self-sufficiency in tomato production.

He said government will continue to provide a business-friendly environment to investors in Nigeria.