Shukurat Olajire
The vegetable production center of the Federal University of Technology Akure,FUTA is ready to guide interested farmers through the process of planting and nurturing the f1 specie of Bell pepper which has a lot of advantages over the traditional ones.
The team lead for vegetable production at FUTA ,Professor Ayo Olalusi disclosed this during the working visit of the Vice Chancellor, Professor Adenike Oladiji to the Greenhouse Research farm of the University on Monday, October 21,2024.
Olalusi described the F1 Bell pepper as an early ripening hybrid variety with a bushy plant that does not require staking. He said the advantageous features include a high level of resistance to diseases, vigorous and strong plant, sweet flavor, and the fruit size is about 10-11cm width by 11-12 cm length, while it weighs between 250-280g. Professor Olalusi added that the uniqueness of the F1 Bell pepper is that it can only be propagated in a greenhouse and FUTA is willing to take on the responsibility of guiding interested individuals and farmers through the process of greenhouse cultivation either on a small scale or large-scale basis.
He said the University would however continue the cultivation in its greenhouse to make the pepper available for its immediate environment and would be ready to explore partnership for large scale production that could translate into major revenue generating stream for FUTA and potential partners.
The Vice Chancellor ,Professor Adenike Oladiji, commended the staff and the leadership of the greenhouse for a job well done.
According to the Vice Chancellor, her vision for the growth and expansion of the greenhouse research farm is to see it train interested individuals on how to cultivate Bell pepper , the FI tomato, and other crops as the University’s contribution to tackling food scarcity.
Professor Oladiji said the unit will be expanded with the assembling and construction of a new and bigger green houses with the help of Fabricators by the Universities engineers , technologists, and fabricators.
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