From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin

The Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI), yesterday, distributed about 105 post harvest storage facilities to seven women and youths farmers’ groups in Edo.

The facilities distributed
included 25 Ice fish boxes and 80 Hermetic Drums.

The beneficiaries are Evbuokhea Women Farmers Group, Iddo Maize Women Farmers Association, Imose Fadama 111 Cooperative Society and Uvbe Maize Farmers Group.

Others are Hope Women MPCS, Catholic Women Organization (MPCS) and Omega Fish Farmers Cooperative Society.

The Executive Director of NSPRI, Dr Patricia Pessu, said the distribution was part of the federal government’s efforts at ensuring food security in the country.

Represented by Dr Samuel Agoda, an Agricultural Extensionist, Sapele, Pessu said the effort was also to discourage the use of chemical to store farm produce and reduce post harvest losses of farm produce.

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“We are here to distribute these modern technologies that we have developed for farmers to store farm produce after harvest.

“Some of these technologies include, Grain Technologies which include, improved inert atmosphere Silos, Hermetic Drums,  fruit and vegetable technologies and livestock and fishery technologies such as fish box

“We are here today to distribute the fish boxes and the Hermetic Drums. Others storage facilities like the Smoking Kiln would be distributed at a later date,” she said.

According to the Executive Director, NSPRI is committed to ensuring that post harvest losses were reduced.

The Permanent Secretary, Edo Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Peter Aikhuomobhogbe thanked the agency for the initiative.

Aikhuomobhogbe added that post harvest losses have been a major problem in the agricultural sector just as he said that the sample storage technologies as developed by NSPRI would go a long way to solving the problem.

He appeal to the beneficiaries not to sell the facilities given to them, promising that they are going to monitor and blacklist any farmers that does so.