The Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI) and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) have warned farmers regarding storing dried beans and other legume products with pesticides and chemicals.
Akin Olagbaju of the NSPRI said at a sensitization workshop in Sokoto that the exercise was organized to improve the ability of farmers and merchants on how to best preserve beans for viable and lucrative exportation.
Mr. Olagbaju outlined several methods for farmers and merchants to store their beans and legume products without adding insecticides.
Why it is bad to use insecticide to store beans
“Among many other debilitating ills in society, the use of chemicals for storage is the source of several illnesses like cancer. “The NSPRI is also conducting research on how to best store onions and other crop varieties for long-term use and exportation,” he added.
According to NEPC trade support adviser Yahaya Ahmad-Sukaraiju, 95 bean farmers and merchants were chosen for the practice in Sokoto.
Mr Ahmad-Sukaraiju implored participants to take advantage of the chance to put what they had learned into practice for the benefit of their businesses and their products.
“You are taught today to use these storage options if you put them there.” You will not use chemicals in produce preservation. “These chemicals are hazardous to human health,” Mr Ahmad-Sukaraiju stated.
