Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
The federal government has taken steps to bridge the huge supply deficit in onions consumed in the country by training farmers, marketers and others in the value chain.
On Tuesday, May 25 and Wednesday, May 26, 2021, a two-day training was held in Kano for those in the sector to update them on the latest in the management, production and storage of onions.
Welcoming the participants at the workshop, the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Ernest Afolabi Umakhihe, represented by Mrs Adeshola Theresa, the Assistant Chief Agric Officer, Horticulture Division, explained that event was borne out of the need for the government’s continuous upgrade of the technical know-how of relevant stakeholders of Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs) on coordinated approach required for management of purple blotch disease.
He added that ADPs will be able to guide onion farmers on how best to manage and overcome the disease as capacity building is a key component activity towards achieving the goal for security and import substitution of the agricultural policy document.
The Permanent Secretary decried on how little Nigeria contributes to the export market largely due to the inability to produce quality onions as a result of the poor management of pests and diseases despite the country’s potential to lead in the production and trade in the world.
Mr Umakhihe said as of 2019, Nigeria consumes 2.5 million tonnes of onions annually but only produces 1.4 million metric tonnes, noting that there was the need to suppress the enormous pressure on the country’s foreign exchange by improving production and boycotting importation.
On another note, the State Director Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Kano State office, Mr Abba Gana Yamani, urged the participants to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the federal government and make judicious use of the knowledge and input they received.
Business Post reports that at the event, the participants were told how to tackle one of the major constraints affecting agricultural production in Nigeria, especially the menace of onion purple blotch fungal disease popularly known as Dah Zazzalau.
