Sustainable vegetable and crop production has been made easier with the use of modern and affordable farm equipment, kits and improved varieties of seeds and seedlings.
This was the explanation of Abdulmajeed Dabiri of Dizengoff Nigeria during a demonstration exercise conducted for corporate and individual farmers on the usage of tractors; irrigation drips systems and greenhouses for fruits and vegetable production in Ibadan, recently.
Greenhouse kits, he said, could be used to produce exotic tomatoes all-year round even in the bacteria wilt infested areas of the Southwest Nigeria.
Dizengoff also demonstrated to farmers groups how tractors are used for plowing, harrowing and ridging; explaining that mechanisation of crop production was the only sustainable way of increasing production, productivity, more profit and a means of reducing poverty among farmers.
The drip irrigation system, he added, could be used to produce annual crops, vegetables, and short-cycled crops in the dry season, ensuring more profit.
Tomatoes, cucumber, watermelon, maize, potatoes, groundnuts, different vegetables and a host of other crops could be planted between November and May with the use of some irrigation kits.
In the southern part of the country where bacterial wilt is rampant and responsible for poor performance of tomatoes, greenhouses and their accompanying improved seeds are ways of ensuring sustainable tomato production.
Dizengoff said sporadic scarcity of all types of pepper could be eradicated with the massive use of greenhouses, urging the corporate bodies, the government, farmers’ groups and individuals to explore opportunities in the application of modern kits for profitable business in vegetable production.