By BUSHRAH YUSUF-BADMUS

An Agricultural expert, Mr Tajudeen Ajisefini has said that most of the foods grown in Nigeria are not exportable due to traceability to ensure they are safe and meet quality standards.

Ajisefini, who is the Managing Director of Enterprise Grooming Institute (EGI), stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Ilorin.

He said before accepting imports from other countries, countries would want to track a food product throughout its journey to know how safe it is and if it met their required standards.

Ajisefini said the countries would want to know who grew it, where it was grown, what fertilizers and pesticides were used and how it was processed, stored and transported.

“Most Nigerian farmers operate on a small scale and most times they do not keep detailed production record, they use inorganic pesticides and fertilizers.

“To cap it all, they sell their produce through several middlemen.

“In order to address this challenge, at EGI, we train our students on formulation of organic pesticides, organic fertilizer using our own natural plants like Neem leaves and rice hulk,’’ he said.

He called for more awareness on the production and use of organic fertilizers and pesticides to ensure acceptability of our farm produce outside the country. (NAN)

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