The Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI) has empowered 50 farmers in Kano State with storage facilities to support their postharvest activities.
Speaking at the ceremony in Bagauda, in the Bebeji area of Kano on Thursday, Dr. Oladimeji Olaleye, a researcher at the institute, said the empowerment would reduce post-harvest losses by the farmers.
Olaleye represented Dr. Patricia Pessu, Executive Director of the institute at the ceremony.
Items distributed to the farmers were iced fish boxes, hermetic steel drums, smoking kilns, and parabolic solar dryers.
“The iced fish box is a cold chain technology developed for the extension of the shelf life of fresh fish.
“The fish box would serve as a means of handling fish for transportation, distribution, and marketing,’’ Olaleye said.
The kilns, he explained, “is an efficient technology for drying fish and meat and would ensure high-quality production of smoked fish’’.
The hermetic steel drum, he added, is an airtight technology developed by the institute for the non-chemical preservation of dried crop products.
Responding on behalf of the beneficiaries, Mr. Aliyu Ado, a fish farmer from the Tiga area of Kano said the items came at the appropriate time.
Ado expressed gratitude for the empowerment and commended the institute for the facilities.
He pledged proper utilization of the items to further boost fish production in the area and in the state at large.
NSPRI is an agency of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development that conducts research, builds capacity and disseminates research outputs in the postharvest management of crops.
(NAN)
