8th April, 2019
The Dangote Tomato Processing Company, Kadawa in Kano state has distributed 20,000 plastic crates (baskets) to tomato farmers as part of effort to check poor handling of the commodity.
The Managing Director of the company, Alhaji Abdulkarim Kaita disclosed this in Kano on Monday.
He said the gesture was borne out of the company’s effort and commitment to support the tomato growers especially in the area where the company is located to enable them transport the commodity with ease.
He said the company which resumed operation after about two years of closure due to inadequate fresh tomato for processing, would continue to support tomato farmers in the state and beyond to enable them remain in business.
He said the farmers were expected to use the plastic baskets or crates to transport the commodity to the company for processing.
Kaita said the company would continue to provide the plastic baskets to the farmers to enable them transport the commodity in good condition before disposal.
He urged the beneficiaries to take good care of the items to enable them last long and serve the purpose for which they were provided.
He said since the plant resumed operation about one month ago, it is processing no fewer than 100 tonnes of fresh tomato per day.
“The company has resumed operation about one month ago and since then we have been processing not less than 100 tonnes of the commodity on daily basis.
“We are happy that the company has resumed operation and it is our hope that as time goes on the quantity of the raw material being processed daily will increase,” he said.
According to him, the company was buying the commodity based on the current market prices in order to encourage farmers to produce the commodity at a large scale.