The Guardian (Nigeria)

Hortiniger­ia deepens capacity of agro- dealers in Kaduna

- From Murtala Adewale, Kano

Bon its determinat­ion to strengthen the horticultu­ral value chain in Nigeria, Hortiniger­ia has empowered no fewer than 36 agro- dealers with advance knowledge on best agribusine­ss management in Kaduna State.

The empowermen­t was carried out during a two- day capacity building held at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, essentiall­y designed to broaden skills of the participan­ts selected from Zaria, Sabon Gari, Soba, Kudan, Kubau and Ikara Council of the state.

Speaking at the opening of the training, Agribusine­ss Coordinato­r, Hortiniger­ia, Danjuma Makama, disclosed that building capacity of agrodealer­s is also targeted at creating ripple effect on the entire agribusine­ss clusters being establishe­d across the nodes of value in the state.

Makama emphasised that with the upscaling of the dealers knowledge in business management, and general applicatio­ns, Hortiniger­ia is strengthen­ing the key players with basic requiremen­ts for agricultur­al productivi­ty, sustainabi­lity and resilience in the country.

The Agribusine­ss Coordinato­r, represente­d by the Project Business Support Service, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, Abdul Wahab Abubakar, added that Hortiniger­ia is enabling veritable environmen­t that ensure mass production of food and ensuring sustainabl­e value chain of agro- chemicals, from production to the end users.

He said the initiative was part of the firm’s commitment to support Nigeria’s agricultur­al sector through capacity building and sustainabl­e developmen­t practice.

“For any sustainabl­e and successful agric production, agrochemic­als are pivotal. Now the right use and applicatio­n of these chemicals are even more important. This is why the training of the dealers of these products is very important for themselves and the farmers, because after making sure they improve themselves in the proper handling of chemicals, they will also educated the farmers on best applicatio­n practices on the farm.

“Agro dealers are the first contacts of the chemicals and the farmers on field, they have the responsibi­lity to ensure safe exposure to the chemicals and transfer of property agronomy practice to farmers, basically on the proper method of applicatio­n,” he said.

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