Expert urges produce audit to avert exports rejection of  Nigeria sesame Seed and other export crops

Chairman Board of Trustees, Mycotoxicology Society of Nigeria, Prof Dele Fapohunda, has urged the government to improve on exports standards and ensure commodities meet European Union (EU) requirements for import.

He said the rejection of some of Nigeria’s exported food items by the EU is not only detrimental to the agricultural sector, but is also counterproductive to the economy.

He was addressing a workshop organized by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council in Abuja.

He said beans, sesame seeds, melon seeds, dried fish and meat, peanut chips and palm oil from Nigeria have been banned by the EU till June, next year, which the reason given were aflatoxins and pesticides at unacceptable levels.

According to him, plans to make the agricultural sector a major revenue earner for the country may suffer a setback if produce from the industry are being rejected by foreign countries.

Sesame

Sesame Seed Processing procedure

Sesame seed or Beniseed (sesame indicum L.) is Nigeria’s second most important non-oil export after cocoa. Botanically, sesame seed belongs to the family of crops known as pedaliaceae, and its seeds contain about 50 percent oil of very high quality and 25 percent protein, based on past research studies. The crop is planted in tropical zones and dry habitats. It is a major cash earner in states such as Benue, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Nasarawa, Katsina, Plateau, Yobe and Cross River. It is also produced in Kogi, Niger, Kwara, Borno, Adamawa, Bauchi, Taraba, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kaduna, Oyo, Ondo, Edo, Ebonyi, Enugu and FCT.