Tomatoes |
Agricultural
produce dealers in Lagos state have pleaded with the Federal government
for the provision of storage facilities, to reduce waste of agriculture
products and increase profits.
Chairman of the association,
Mr. Ileyasu Azeez of the Amuwo Odofin branch in Lagos State, addressed
the issue of storage saying that; “It will be counter-productive if at
the end, farmers and sellers dispose of produce in a hurry, because of
fear of the produce getting spoilt’. He reiterated that both farmers and
traders would be better off if there were storage facilities for
produce and users will be sure of getting fresh produce throughout the
year.
As regards the imported solar
powered storage system, which some businessmen introduced in the
country, the chairman said it could only store 60 tonnes of produce. He
also said that in spite of the equipment’s short lifespan of four years,
it was costly and the members of the association could not afford it at
N10 million per unit. He therefore appealed to research institutions in
the country to assist with the provision of tropical storage
facilities.
Azeez lamented that members of
the association often sell their goods below the cost price for fear
that they might get rotten. “It even takes longer than two days to
transport produce like plantain, oranges and bananas from Okada, in Edo
to Lagos markets. He appealed to the government to provide the
facilities and allow installments
“It is only when products are
available all year round that people can invest in processing them to
add value to them,’’ He said.
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