SEEFOR to train 250 Delta youths in hybrid tomato farming

The State Employment and Expenditure For Results Project (SEEFOR), an intervention project of the World Bank and the European Union (EU), says it will train 250 Delta youths in hybrid tomato farming.

The Coordinator of SEEFOR in Delta, Mr Benson Ojoko, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Asaba.

According to Ojoko, the training programme is to assist the young farmers expand their knowledge in hybrid tomato farming.

“In this year’s training programme, we are focusing on crop production and we are going to train and empower them in the production of varieties of hybrid tomatoes,’’ he said.

He said that the maiden training programme would involve youths selected from the 25 local government areas of the state.

Ojoko explained that the youths would be trained in Songhai Farm, Amukpe and given starter packs at the end of the programme.

The coordinator said that SEEFOR had been giving grants to six polytechnics and three vocational institutions and agricultural institutions in the state.

He said that in 2015 SEEFOR gave N20 million grant to each of the six government-owned technical colleges and three vocational institutions in the state.

The coordinator said that in 2016, the six technical colleges also received N27 million each as grant.

He named some of the beneficiaries as Agbor Technical College, Sapele Technical College, Utogba-ogbe Technical College and Ogor Technical College.

Ojoko said the grants were meant to improve the institutions’ environment so as to enhance teaching and learning.

“Since the initiation of these grants the number of students’ enrollment into the institutions has increased,” the coordinator said.