The Federal Government on Tuesday announced that it had issued certificates to 269 soil doctors and agriculture extension workers and provided test kits to facilitate their field operations.
It said the certificates and test kits, which were issued in Maiduguri, Borno State, was following the completion of a two-week training organised by the National Agricultural Land Development Authority in collaboration with the state.
This came as the government also announced that post-harvest losses for yam in Nigeria had risen to 40 per cent.
NALDA in a statement issued in Abuja said the 269 persons, who got various agricultural certificates, were trained in areas of soil sample collection, soil testing as well as extension services.
At the certificate award ceremony, the Executive Secretary, NALDA, Paul Ikonne, expressed optimism that the entry of the trainees into the Nigerian agricultural system would address issues associated with soil testing and food quality.
Ikonne said, “It is expected that the injection of soil doctors and extension service providers into the Nigerian agricultural system will correct the anomalies of non-soil testing so that farming becomes healthy for the environment, humanity and quality food production.”