The Federal Government, through the Federal Department of Agricultural Extension Services, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has supported farmers in Oyo State with training and empowerment on cassava cultivation and processing.
The two-day training, held at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food security state office, Moor Plantation, Ibadan. Participants, were trained on series of approach to getting good yield, ranging from fertiliser application, soil testing among others.
Speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the training session, Director, Federal Department of Agricultural Extension Services in the ministry, Mr Ayodele Olawunmi, who was represented by a Principal Agric Officer, Mrs Temitope Banjo, said the aim and objectives of the training were working towards food security and sustainable agriculture as well as the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
‘The empowerment programme is to upgrade farmers’ knowledge about cassava production and processing in Oyo State. Oyo State is one of the prominent cassava producers in the country, so it is very important to come to Oyo State when we talk of Cassava because the state contribute a lot to cassava production in Nigeria.
‘And the whole process is exposing them more to the necessary skills in processing and to reduce usage of chemicals in the processing of cassava. Some people process their cassava, especially when they want to use it to make fufu with detergent and some other chemicals.
‘This training is meant to tell them that they must not add chemicals to cassava when processing it because it is very dangerous to human health. What we are promoting is food security with nutrition, it is not food security with damaging of our health. Nutrition is one of the important aspects of food security, so the two have to go together.’
The Oyo State Coordinator, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food security, Mr Adetunji Samson, represented on the occasion by Chief Agric Supritendent, Mr Adefesobi Oluwatoyin, called on participants at the training to make good use of all that they have learnt during the course of the training and extend same to their fellow farmers who could not attend the programme.
At the end of the training, each of the farmers was given a knapsack sprayer in order to boost their farm work.