FG trains women on tomato, other fruits’ value addition in Nasarawa

The Federal Government through the National Horticultural Research Institute Ibadan has trained women in Nasarawa State on capacity building and empowerment on value added chain on tomatoes and other perishable fruits 

 The Director of Research and Project Coordinator of the National Horticultural Research Institute Ibadan, Dr. Olutola Oyedele, who disclosed this to newsmen in Lafia, said the women, who were drown from the southern senatorial zone of the state, were trained for value addition on tomato produce.

 She said the institute, in its finding, discovered that tomato is naturally important to every household, but has a very short life span, so it came up with technology that would benefit the producers to improve quality and market value by properly managing and drying the produce for long-time preservation to avoid post-harvest losses.

Oyedele said: “Low cost tomato sun dryer is introduced to the women to dry tomatoes, after removing the rotten ones, and then thoroughly washing them before cutting  them into small pieces to be spread on the machine to dry. 

“About 10 groups of women from various villages and communities are attending the training and each of them will be going home with the low cost dryer and other items that you can see here.”

 “They are also encouraged to go home and extend the training to other women so that we can have a good reserve of dry tomatoes free from microbial contamination as well as to gain economic value of the product.

The three days programme which began with Lafia zone today, would continue tomorrow with Akwaga zone and conclude with Benue State by Thursday, she stated.

Oyedele stressed that the programme is an innovative platform where stakeholders are expected to meet and add value to the farming of tomato and other perishable items.