Maize farmers in Ngoma District have been called upon to improve their post-harvest handling practices in a bid to ensure high quality produce for consumption and market.
“Our market needs high quality maize. So you should make much efforts to improve your post-harvest handling to meet the required standards,” the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), Jean Claude Musabyimana, told maize farmers in Ngoma District.
The Permanent Secretary made the call while participating in the special community work “Umuganda” that was meant to support cooperative members of KODUIBI-Mugesera in harvesting their maize grown on 180 ha. The Minister of Public Service and Labour, Fanfan Kayirangwa Rwanyindo also joined the farmers in harvesting exercise.
PS Musabyimana urged the farmers to dry and store properly their produce in order to control aflatoxins in maize.
Aflatoxins are poisonous carcinogens that are produced by certain molds which grow in soil, decaying vegetation, hay, and grains. They are regularly found in improperly stored staple commodities including grains such as maize.
Stakeholders in the agriculture sector have also been urged to help farmers improve the post-harvest handling of their produce.
Crop yields such as grains can be lost through the entire post-harvest chain before reaching the consumer when harvests poorly handled. These losses occur at every stage – harvest, transport, drying, shelling, winnowing, sorting/packaging, storage, and even during transport to market and in-market storage.
To avoid this unnecessary loss, the government of Rwanda and its partners have been working together to provide the farmers with post-harvest handling skills and facilities.