The Federal Government of Nigeria has distributed about 190 improved small-scale post-harvest storage facilities to farmers in Oyo State through the Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI) to reduce post-harvest losses of farm produce.
The distribution made by the institute comprises five smoking kilns, 125 iced fish boxes and 60 hermetic steel drums at the Ministry of Agriculture, state secretariat, Ibadan, Oyo State.
NSPRI is one of the research institutes under the supervision of Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The Institute is established to deliver effective technologies to control post-harvest losses in Nigeria.
The Executive Director of NSPRI, Dr Patricia Pessu, represented by the NSPRI Zonal Coordinator, Dr Funmilayo Ilesanmi, called on farmers to maximize the facilities, saying the distributed facilities would go a long way in boosting their agribusinesses.
She noted that the new technology was an initiative of the Federal Government while explaining that the smoking kiln is an efficient technology for drying fish and meat and that the kiln would ensure high – quality products with permissible polyaromatic hydrocarbons.
“The ice fish box is a cold chain technology developed for extension of shelf-life of fresh fish. It is an effective means of handling fish for transportation, distribution, and marketing.
“The hermetic steel drum is an airtight technology developed by NSPRI for non-chemical preservation of dried crops/products such as grains, roots, tubers, fruits, vegetables, fisheries and livestock. She added
Mr Adeniyi Adebisi, commissioner for Agriculture for the state appreciated the federal government for the distribution of the facilities and eulogized the institute for the development of machineries that would improve the nation’s agricultural sector, adding that post-harvest waste and losses had been a major challenge in the agricultural sector.
