Institute warns against use of fertiliser, pesticide on produce for export
NAN-AE-5
Export
by Chiazo Ogbolu
Lagos, Oct. 23, 2017(NAN) The Nigeria Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST) on Monday warned farmers against using fertiliser, pesticides, herbicides on produce for export.
The Chairman, Lagos Chapter of the institute, Mr Sunday Bamgbose, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Bamgbose said that the era of pesticide, herbicide and fertiliser applications in large quantity was over.
According to him, it was time farmers in the country adhere to modern agricultural practices to benefit from food export.
“The food value chain undergoes various processes and if not properly managed can cause a lot of damage or losses to the farmer.
“The rejection of Nigerian yams recently was as a result of the loopholes that existed in the technical aspect of the food value chain.
“In yam exportation, the packaging, mode of transportation, good temperature, among others, is considered.
“The recent development is unpleasant news because it is a negative publicity for the country.
“There is need to do the appropriate thing by involving those vast in the technical aspect of food exportation,” he said.
Bamgbose suggested that the government should always play its regulatory role in the process of produce for export.
He said that there was the need to always observe the variety of the produce, shelf life, duration which had to do with the storage duration, before a produce was exported.
“If the lifespan of the yam is six months; we should consider the period it will stay in transit, and also the period it stays in the person’s store or warehouse.
“We can now detect if the lifespan will be used up before it reaches its destination to prevent losses,” he said.
The NIFST president added that whenever a produce was meant for export, the exporter should always follow the required standards by the country the produce was meant for. (NAN)
CAN/JI/AFA
Editing by Joseph Idika/Felix Ajide