Tomato farmers in Kano state, who mostly use traditional methods of drying their crops, are now drawing up strategies of make a change in their activities.
The farmers are learning new ways of preserving their produce using technology.
Ibrahim Isah reports that Nigeria is one of the largest producer of tomatoes in Subsaharan Africa, but presently, Tomato farmers lose large percentages of their yield due to poor storage and processing facilities.
They are now making a switch from the method of Sun drying which poses health threats and causes them to incur huge loses due to heavy wind, rain
and animals.
In Kano State, farmers are now being trained on ways of using technology to preserve their tomatoes for maximum profits courtesy of Kano
Government, Federal Government and the World Bank. Automated gas powered dryers help in drying their crops in large quantities in a few hours.
Other areas focused on by the farmers are wheat milling and the packaging of all their farm produce.
The farmers and their tutors, who are support officials into agro processing, productivity enhancement and livelihood improvement, are
optimistic that in a few years the traditional way of drying and preserving their produce would be a thing of the past.
