Kano Governor assures NOPPMAN of support towards promoting onion value chain
By Ahmed Tijjani
Kano state Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has assured of the commitment of his administration towards promoting the value chain of Onion and other commodities because of their importance to the building of a prosperous State.
According to him right from the moment he assumed office, Kano State has supported the programmes initiated by the Federal Government led by President Muhammad Buhari which made diversification of agriculture one of its goals.
The Governor represented by his Deputy Dr. Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna made this known when members of the National Onion Producers, Processors and Marketers Association Of Nigeria paid a visit to him at the Government House, Kano.
He said Onion is a perishable vegetable which must be exploited to boost the nation.
“In Kano we have Onion markets due to realising the importance of vegetables to the economy, before our farmers have been suffering a lot in the area of post harvest losses, now with new innovations through technology especially the storage method that has become a thing of the past”
While assuring them of continued support, cooperation and collaboration, he implored them to take advantage of the intervention programmes initiated by the Federal Government so as to enhance more production and processing of Onion.
The President of the Association, Comrade Aliyu Maitasamu Isa in his speech said the purpose of the visit was to intimate him about their Regional International Onion Conference coming up in Kano later in November this year.
“The Conference is a collaborative effort of the regional observatory for onion in West and Central Africa and our association aimed towards looking at the impacts of the African Free Trade Area, AFTA he said”.
He also explained that Nigeria’s Onion being one of the best in the world because of its strong pungency is exported to many countries such as France, Japan, India, Niger Republic, Ghana and lots more.
Maitasamu however commended Kano State Government for its laudable policies and programmes in agriculture, adding that what attracted all Onion producers and processors to come to Kano.