NIHORT graduates youth trainees empowered with skills in vegetable, fruit crops farming

The Federal Government through the National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT), Ibadan, has empowered another batch of youth trainees with skills in vegetable and fruit crops farming to address hunger and food security in Nigeria.

The programme tagged: Horticultural Academy for Youths (HAY), which lasted for seven months, provided training on both practical and theoretical ways of planting both leafy and fruit crops.

The vegetable crops the trainees received training on are: Amaranth, Celosia, Corchorus, Telfaria, Okra, Cucumber, pepper and tomatoes.

Speaking during the graduation ceremony held on NIHORT’s premises in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, the Executive Director of NIHORT, Professor Muhammed Attanda, said the programme served as the institution’s way of contributing its quota to addressing unemployment, hunger and food security in Nigeria.

Attanda stated that when this year’s programme was at the initial stage, it was confronted by the challenge of flooding which damaged all crops that were planted.

He said crops were later replanted and yielded good harvest and therefore the reason for the celebration.

He said: “What we are witnessing today is that of commitment and perseverance on the part of the team of instructors of the programme and the trainees.

“The trainees have been given all they need to succeed in farming and I urge them to put it to use.

“NIHORT has given them the required technology to fight hunger, food security in Nigeria and to be employers of labour,” Attanda said.

Also speaking, the Programme Coordinator and NIHORT Director of Research, Dr Olutola Oyedele, said that a total of 28 trainees graduated from the programme.

Oyedele said that the participants were put through both theoretical and practical process of cultivation, provided with seedlings, materials for crop protection and closely monitored to ensure success of the programme.

She said that the graduates had been strengthened and empowered to be able to take care of their families and the society at large.

Speaking on behalf of the graduates, Mr Muftau Muyideen, commended NIHORT for organising the programme, adding that the programme has motivated him to engage in farming.

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