The TETFund Centre of Excellence in Integrated Farming System (TCoEIFS) Federal Polytechnic Bauchi has organised a 3-Day training for final year students of the Polytechnic on the modern methods of handling and preserving tomatoes.
The students were drawn from the departments of Agriculture and Bio-Environmental Engineering Technology, Nutrition and Dietetics and Science Laboratory Technology of the Polytechnic.
Speaking during the opening ceremony for the training, Director of the Centre, Dr Kolawole Richard said the whole idea of the training was for the students to be exposed to the stage-by-stage methods of preserving tomatoes for which millions of farmers suffer losses due to its perishable nature.
He said at a time when the population of the country is projected to grow astronomically, there was the need for all stakeholders to play their own part for the country to be food secure.
In his address, Rector of the Polytechnic Arc. Sanusi Waziri Gumau expressed satisfaction with the level of commitment of the Centre of Excellence in delivering the mandate for its creation, pledging that the Management of the Polytechnic would do anything within its ability to assist the Centre in carrying out its activities.
The Rector said the training would serve as a means of acquiring skills for selfreliance for the final year students and urged them to pay attention to training as it was organised to make them employers of labour.
In his vote of thanks, the Head of Projects Management Team of the Centre, Dr Abdullahi Mohammed appreciated all those who contributed to the realisation of the training and thanked the representatives of the Bauchi State College of Agriculture and Bauchi State Office of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for attending the ceremony.
At the end of the 3-Day training, participants were presented certificates which qualify them to be trainers that can in turn train others in their various communities.
