The Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) has trained farmers in Akwa Ibom state on modern farming techniques ahead of the forthcoming planting season.
Blueprint reports that HOMEF trained the farmers on how to formulate organic pesticides and fertiliser locally without addition of chemicals.
The organisation noted that the decision to train the farmers was necessitated by the alarming rate of chemical pesticide usage which was unsafe for human consumption.
Speaking during a one-day training of the farmers at Uyo Afaha Nkan in Ikono LGA, Monday, the director of Programme of HOMEF, Mrs Joyce Brown, expressed optimism that the method shown to the farmers would improve crop yields and preserve the ecosystem.
She bemoaned that chemical pesticides has continuously triggered the rejection of Nigerian goods particularly food items at the international market.
Mrs Brown said: “We are here to equip our farmers with the practical knowledge of how to practice agroecology to produce food not just in quantity but quality enough for consumption and nourishing to the ecosystem as well.
“We recognise the challenges in agriculture all over the country. For instance, pests and diseases, infections and drought in some areas is dependence on farmers and inorganic pesticides.
“This continuous use of inorganic pesticides is compounding our problems in agriculture because they degrade our soil and that is why we have come to train our farmers in a way that will revive our soil.”
