Netherlands’ Envoy Urges Govt, Stakeholders to Emulate Contec’s Organic Agro Practices

The Netherlands Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Robert J. Petri, has urged governments across the three tiers, operators and stakeholders in Nigeria’s agricultural sector to emulate Contec Global Agro strides and practices through the use of science and technology to drive and revolutionalise organic agricultural practices in the country.

The Ambassador, who was led by the Founder and Chairman of Contec Global, Dr. Benoy Berry on a facility of the company’s bio fertilizer and tissue culture laboratories in Maitama, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) recently, commended Dr. Berry for his effort and initiative in investing in the labs for the production of organic crops for food security.

On his impression after inspecting the facilities, the diplomat said: “Indeed the all very impressive and fascinating technology can really help us to particularly move forward agriculture in the country.”

According to him, it has become a matter of necessity for the government and all the stakeholders to key into this initiative because of the dire need to increase food production to meet the people’s need.

On the organic fertilizer plant, he said, taking the health and safety standard of the people into consideration in producing chemical free fertilizer is highly commendable, adding: “From what I have seen here today, the company is at Contec Global Agro Limited (CGAL), today, is leading the way in organic agriculture revolution.”

In his remark, Dr. Berry thanked the envoy for taken out time to visit the facilities, stressing that all hands must be on deck to ensure that right scientific practices and ICT are used for the cultivation of organic foods for Nigerian citizens.

The founder frowned at the use of chemical additives in fertilizer for crop cultivation, stressing that there is no doubt that this has resulted in increasing cases of different forms of cancer in the society.

According to him, the reason why some of Nigeria’s food export is rejected in Europe is because of its high chemical content. With the application of the organic fertilizer from the company, Dr. Berry assured that the negative trend of rejection will stop.

He said: “We are not just interested in food security through using biological micro-organisms taken from Nigerian soil, but also making available simple software developed from the company’s AfriOne handsets and tablets for the farmers.

Contec Global Agro Limited, a subsidiary of Contec Global was set up in 2013, currently providing direct jobs to over 50 young Nigerian scientists and agriculturalist. Indirectly, over 100, 000 farmers are currently benefiting from the company’s products and services lines geared toward addressing challenges confronting the agro sector.

The challenges range from soil degradation due to persistent application of chemical fertilizer to poor yields resulting from lack of mechanization and ICT.