By Nefishetu Yakubu
Mrs Gloria Ikhaza, An Agriculturalist, Mrs Gloria Ikhaza has urged farmers to stop using synthetic fertilizer for crop production to avoid health challenges and damages to the environment.
Ikhaza gave the warning during the monthly meeting of the Women in Agriculture, Edo Chapter, held at the ADP premises on Thursday in Benin.
Speaking on the topic: Production, processing and marketing of agricultural produce, Ikhaza said organic fertilizer was the best for crop production.
She said the warning became necessary in view of the dangers inherent in using synthetic fertilizer to grow crops and the health challenges it posed to human lives.
“When you compare crops grown with organic fertilizer, what you find is that the crops are always fresh and have better taste.
“The synthetic chemicals we take-in is killing us gradually, so it is better we go back to mother earth and tap the natural manure to grow our crops.
“The fertilizer we are planting with is giving us excessive sugar in the body and cause more people to have diabetes,” she said.
She also urged the women to consider going into dragon fruit production because the crop was a money spinning fruit that could take women out of poverty.
Earlier in her welcome address, the President of the women farmers, Mrs Debby Iserhierhien said the role of women in agriculture could not be overemphasized.
Iserhierhien, who expressed displeasure over the incessant rise in price of food items, urged the women to take to the cultivation of the unused spaces at the back of their homes.
“This will also help you to feed your children with fresh vegetables and build their immune system. The can foods most people buy have been contaminated with chemicals, ” she said.
She also warned the women against the use of chemicals to ripen fruits because the act was harmful to the body.
Mrs Eunice Ogieva, the Desk Officer, Rural Institution on Gender and Youth, Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises in the Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) gave the overview of the project in Edo.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Edo Women in Agriculture was inaugurated by LIFE-ND project to give voice to the women to advocate for issues that affect their performance in agriculture.
The State Chairman of the Edo chapter of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Dogwo Bako, was represented at the meeting by Mrs Omaghe Ojugbana (NAN)
