Tomato Production Gets a Boost as Oyo Govt Collaborates with Netherlands on Greenhouse Project.
By Adewale Owoade.
Oyo State Government is set to revolutionise tomato production in the state by leveraging greenhouse technology.
This move is expected to boost tomato production, making the commodity available throughout the year at reasonable prices.
The Dutch delegation led by the Consular-General of the Kingdom of The Netherlands, Nigeria, Mr Michel Deelen, visited Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State at his private residence in Ibadan, on the collaboration
Speaking, the Director-General of the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA) and Executive Adviser on Agribusiness to Gov. Seyi Makinde, Dr Debo Akande, stated that The Netherlands delegation was ready to partner with Oyo State in the area of tomato production.
He noted that the state has achieved successes in the agriculture value chain and has particularly carved a niche for itself in the area of cassava production.
“This is probably going to be the best thing that would happen to our state in recent times; the evolution that is happening in the agribusiness sector.
“It is not as if we have not been doing something about tomatoes, but we have not done enough. So, this visit by the Dutch government to His Excellency is providing the opportunity for us to accelerate and expand on what we are doing on tomatoes.
“People who have mastered tomato production in the world are the Israelis and the Dutch. Today, we have The Netherlands and we are willing to learn how they have done it, because they have massive production of tomatoes.
“The partnership with the Dutch government is going to help us accelerate.
“This is why the governor has given us a marching order. He wants to see about 50 of these greenhouses producing tomatoes in our state to complement what our smallholder farmers are doing in the open field.
“The Dutch government is going to support while the Oyo State government will continue to provide an enabling environment and the right facility for this to grow.”
Speaking earlier, Mr Deelen, said that the visit is to discuss the role of government and see how they could work with the Oyo State Government to boost production of horticulture products.
“We brought people from Westland, and other people from the horticulture sector, to exchange information and see how together we can make sure that production of horticulture products increases in Oyo State.
“We felt there is a huge demand in the South-West, not just Ibadan or Lagos. Lagos does not have the landmass to produce all that but Oyo State has.
“The ordinary person on the street tends to gain different things from this partnership if he is interested in horticulture or getting a job in that sector, because it is also about job creation.
“On the other hand, if the average person on the street is a consumer, he will see that the quality of tomatoes and other farm products in the market will increase and that could be visible.”
Similarly, Agricultural Counsellor at the Consulate-General Office, Inge Tenniglo, said the Dutch government is willing to partner with Nigeria to see how the quality and quantity of tomatoes can be increased.
In the same vein, Senior Manager, International and Economic Affairs, Ima Meijer, said the Dutch government believes in sustainable food production and believes that greenhouse technology is one of such ways to achieve it.
