The
director of North Bank agricultural directorate has lauded Livestock and
Horticulture Development Project (LHDP) for building farmers’ capacity in
vegetable production to enhance nutritional development and increase income
level for farmers.
Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Saikou E. Sanyang said the one-day capacity development was for farmers on best practices for vegetable growers, pest management, fertilizer application, planting methods and marketing strategies.
He said capacity development is crucial in enhancing quality vegetable production and improving soil nutrients.
The NBR Agric boss noted that farmers should promote networking and communication, organize themselves into cooperatives to enhance marketing of their farm produce.
He applauded the ADB and the LHDP for their support to the department of agriculture.
He said the promotion of timely production planning, sorting and grading of quality produce would contribute to the attainment of food standard and market.
He calls on farmers to be proactive to share the skills and knowledge to others to enhance increase in quality production.
Momodou Darboe, Regional Livestock Officer, did underscore the series of trainings outlined by the LHDP, with the objective to enhance production and productivity and contribute to poverty reduction.
He noted that farmers should promote adoption of best agricultural practices to bring about sustainable livelihood.
Commenting on marketing, the NBR Livestock Officer asserted that there is need for farmers to go away with traditional methods to determine their price and value in the use of weighing scale.
In efforts to realize good production, he said, designated extension officers within the project intervention areas would continue to provide technical backstopping to enhance farmers capacity on vegetable production.
Batch Samba Njie, Pest Management Specialist calls on farmers to be mindful on the use of pesticide chemical on vegetable and crops to boost production.
He said good spacing of vegetable would promote growth and development of plant and by extension increase production and better management of plant.
Speaking on behalf of farmers, Aja Yamundow Drammeh of Chilla, Binta Jammeh of Sittanunku and Nyimasatou Mbakeh Marong of Illiasa thanked the LHDP for building their capacity on vegetable production and also providing standard garden to increase quality production.
The support, according to farmers, has empowered them to adopt best farming practices and contribute to poverty reduction at community level.
Alieu Joof of Mbollet ba, a youth leader, calls on the youth to venture into vegetable production and thanked the LHDP for providing the much needed support to women and youth in the region.
The 60 farmers involved in the capacity development training were drawn from the ADB-LHDP-funded intervention communities of Illiasa, Mbollet ba, Chilla and Sittanunku.
