Pilot hybrid tomato project in Nigeria

A pilot hybrid tomatoes production project has been established in Kano state in northern Nigeria by Dangote Farms for its tomatoes processing plants in the state.The Managing Director of the Dangote Farms, Alhaji Abdulhamid Kaita, told journalists in Kano at the end of a two-day stakeholders’ forum on tomatoes value chain on Thursday that the company introduced the hybrid seedlings to farmers yet they insisted that the seedlings be tried by the company before they patronized it.

According to Nigeria’s Vanguard newspaper report on Friday, the company had commenced a pilot project at Kadawa area of the state during this year’s rainy season and was about to begin the second phase of the project during the dry farming season.

“The yield they produce now is about 10 tonnes per hectare by the hybrid seedling varieties we are introducing will produce 80 to 100 tonnes per hectare using the best practices,” he said.

He explained that the company had engaged farmers in the past two years providing them with best practices of tomatoes production and processing and that the company organised the farmers into clusters to prevent dealing with farmers individually for the benefit of the farmers and the company.

Dangote Farms with support from the World Bank, conducted a two-day stakeholders’ meeting on tomatoes value chain ahead of the commencement of operation of the Dangote tomatoes processing plant in the next few weeks.

Source: starafrica.com