By Francis Akinnodi

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The Ondo State Agricultural Commodities Association (OSACA), has urged state governments and the private sector to establish food processing plants in the country.
Chairman of the association, Mr. Olugbenga Obaweya made the call in an interview with The Hope in Akure at the weekend.
He said establishing processing plants was critical to checking imminent food crisis in the country.
According to him, the country would be saving a lot in processing foods and a lot to fall back on, in case of any food shortage.
“The question is; do we have adequate and good storage facilities in the country? So there is need to encourage food processing.
“For instance, there is no adequate plants for fruit like mango processing and if you ask an average Nigerian, he will tell you that mango is just to cut and eat, not knowing that you can use mango to produce chips, juice and jam. Every household should plant mango, know how to process it and know where to sell the mango.
“This is because if you look around, you will see mangoes littered around and we want to stop that.
“There are individuals that have money and can easily establish the mango fruit juice industry although it is very capital intensive. But if you look at other areas like the mango chips, what does it take? Just cutter and dryer,” he said.