Farmer Field Schools Training On Tomato Production In Nigeria
Baseline Studies:
Baseline survey: this has been conducted in Oyo and Ogun States in the South-Western Nigeria. Three sites were visited in Oyo State: Iseyin, Igangan and Ogbomoso while two sites were visited in Ogun State: Ijebu-Imusin and Ayetoro-Yewa.
The baseline survey gave the opportunity to directly interact with tomato producers to understand what needs to be in the training modules that will be delivered during the farmer field school that will be conducted.
Interviewing farmer at Iseyin
interviewing farmer at Ogbomoso
Demonstration Plots On Tomato Production:
Tomato Value Chain Workshops:
Owing to the vast area of the country, the VCW will be conducted in the two zones: the South-West and the Northern region. The South West region VCW was held between 29 and 30 January, 2019 at the National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT), Ibadan. All the macro actors along the value chain of tomato were brought together to NIHORT for the two days to discuss challenges facing tomato production and proffer solutions to the problems. A representative of the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL); a program of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN-NIRSAL) was available to give better information to stakeholders on government policies for insurance and money lending for agriculture. Representatives from various policy making institutions of the federal and state governments were present: Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Oyo State Ministry of Agriculture, Ogun State Agricultural Development Agency, National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC), Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), National Agricultural Quarantine Services (NAQS), Nigeria Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER). Policy makers present at the workshop in order to discuss policy issues that have been affecting tomato production and other stakeholders in the industry. Private seed companies like Syngenta, World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg), East-West Seeds, Techni seeds, were present to raise awareness on hybrid tomato varieties available. Private tomato greenhouse practitioners such as Argus Ecosystem Ltd and Tomato and Orchard Producer Association (TOPAN) gave presentations on protected tomato production and post-harvest handling. Presentation given by a local tomato processor, Eazysauces, made the farmers to be aware of the presence of local off-takers for fresh tomato fruits for processing. Media houses were present to give more visibility to the workshop.
During the plenary sessions, the stakeholders were distributed into working groups to discuss issues and affecting their productivity as actors along the value chain and propose resolutions. At the end of the two-day workshop, a communique was unanimously agreed upon before being sent to the media for publication and to policy makers for policy inclusion (https://www.independent.ng/stakeholders-urge-fg-to-support-tomato-value-chain-in-south-west/). CBN-NIRSAL representative shared the federal government initiative to establish national micro-finance banks that will be able to lend to farmers at a single digit rate.
CBN-NIRSAL visited Iseyin for possible funding of the long abandoned irrigation project to enhance all year round tomato production in the South-Western Nigeria. This report confirmed by the farmers from this location is a positive impact of this project at this period of time in Nigeria. Efforts have started to link the farmers in Ogun State with the Ogun CBN-NIRSAL office to be able to harness support from CBN.
Value Chain Workshop Photo Gallery
Research On Tomato In Nigeria:
Germplasm assemblage: 50 wild tomato germplasm had been received from the C.M. Rick Tomato Genetic Resource Center, USA; 10 advanced breeding lines from the World Vegetable Center, Taiwan; 100 landraces have been assembled. The germplasm are currently in the screen-house for multiplication.
Treating wild germplasm seeds for germination Transplanted seedlings
