By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The National Association of Mango Producers, Processors and Marketers of Nigeria (NAMPPMAN) has stated that six juice processing plants will soon be established in the country.
The National President of the association, Alhaji Abdulkadir Nasir, made this known on Thursday in Abuja.
Nasir said that the association would partner with stakeholders in the mango value chain to establish the fruit processing plants in the six geo political zones in the country.
“We want to see that we establish at least six mega juice making factory across the country.
“That is why we are talking to various stakeholders that are into processing or manufacturing juices and the concentrates so that through the association they can become off takers that our famers are churning out.
“That is what we want to do this year; we want to promote six mega juice processing plants for off-takers to process mangoes.
“Already, there is a very big mango production window but not without challenges because most of the mangoes we have are wild mangoes that can only be consumed in Nigeria,’’ he said.
Nasir, who was speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria, emphasised the need for increased extension services in the production of competitive mangoes, urged government agencies to show more interest in the role of extension workers.
He also solicited support to overcome challenges of certification and standardisation.
“During production care is not taken to standardise and before you export you have to standardise, you have to sort and maintain good level of good agricultural production practices to agree with international certification standard,’’ Nasir said.
He said that the association would also engage a total of 3,600 women in the country in producing mango chips or small scale mango juice making factories.
According to him, 100 women will be selected from each state.