Post by Trade facilitator on Jul 29, 2018 12:54:24 GMT 1
When you think of fruit juice, your mind may just go to the big firms that produce the popular brands that you are used to. However, there are immense opportunities for small-scale producers in the fruit value chain.
In order to popularise the relatively small brands, the Raw Materials Research and Development Council is trying to promote a fruits industry that includes big and small players alike.
One of the ways that an entrepreneur can get involved in the industry is to grow the fruits, especially the improved varieties that can be utilised for making the juice.
The seemingly good supply of fruits in the country at present is because there are very little fruit juice concentrate plants in the country.
If fruit juice concentrate plants are scattered all over the country as the agency plans to promote them, there will be scarcity of fresh fruits.
To avoid this, the relevant governments agency has gone into partnership with two research institutes based in Ibadan as well as a private fruit juice production company, Funman, to mass produce improved fruit juice seedlings. The National Biotechnology Development Agency is also involved in the partnership with the support of the World Bank.
The fruit plants involved in the project include mangoes, citrus, pineapple and banana.
The purpose is to produce improved seedlings, which can be distributed or sold to small-scale farmers who are ready to be involved in the value chain.
Onwualu stressed the importance of good varieties that will have more liquid and smaller seeds so as to give value to the fruit juice industry.
"We want to encourage farmers to grow the plants so that the supply side can be taken care of," he said.
Good varieties of fruits are used in the production of concentrates, the major raw materials for the production of fruit juice.
For those involved in raw fruit juice production, method of harvesting should not inflict injuries on the fruits as this can affect the juice.
"Harvesting in the optimal stage of fruit development has a pronounced effect on income. Harvesting too early results in incomplete use of the yield potential of an orchard and fruits not at their peak quality.
"Delaying harvest results in losses due to fruit abscission and softening, leading to shortened shelf life, reduced storage and increased internal disorders. Hence, optimal harvesting time and methods are critical considerations in determining the quality, yield and income from farm produce."
He added, "Taking an example, indeed, traders often forget or do not know that oranges can only ripen on the tree (orange being a non-climacteric crop like pepper) and the quality of the fruit begins to deteriorate immediately after plucking. No matter the region, it is important that oranges not only mature, but ripen before being plucked."
About 90 per cent of the fruit juice concentrates used in the country is imported, while the target of the agency is to promote the production of the concentrates in the country and reduce importation by about 80 per cent in the next three years.
We have a project for the development of technology for the production of fruit juice concentrates in the country,
So fruit juice concentrate offers entrepreneurs two opportunities. One can get involved in the development and marketing of the technology or in utilising the technology for the production of concentrates.
The choice of appropriate technology is critical in processing and packaging of fruits.
Most of the processing equipment is mainly imported, while locally fabricated ones are poorly patronised because of durability issues.
The materials used for the design and construction of locally make equipment are mainly not of high specifications and cannot be classified as meeting world standards.
Government can alleviate this constraint that is critical to fruit and vegetable processing by setting up modern technology/fabrication centres and providing funding for local manufacturers of processing equipment.
The effect of these strategies will bring an improvement and create employment opportunities.
The agency is encouraging small-scale processors at the farm gates. Such processors can either sell directly to the big processors or directly to the final users.
Opportunities exist in crushing and bottling. We want to see the emergence of thousands of SMEs in fruit processing at different levels.
Other areas, which growers and processors must pay attention to, according to are transportation, preservation, power supply, storage, research and development, as well as partnership with relevant organisations.
Such organisations include the RMRDC, while the agency can offer technical support, training and consultancy on equipment.
In order to popularise the relatively small brands, the Raw Materials Research and Development Council is trying to promote a fruits industry that includes big and small players alike.
One of the ways that an entrepreneur can get involved in the industry is to grow the fruits, especially the improved varieties that can be utilised for making the juice.
The seemingly good supply of fruits in the country at present is because there are very little fruit juice concentrate plants in the country.
If fruit juice concentrate plants are scattered all over the country as the agency plans to promote them, there will be scarcity of fresh fruits.
To avoid this, the relevant governments agency has gone into partnership with two research institutes based in Ibadan as well as a private fruit juice production company, Funman, to mass produce improved fruit juice seedlings. The National Biotechnology Development Agency is also involved in the partnership with the support of the World Bank.
The fruit plants involved in the project include mangoes, citrus, pineapple and banana.
The purpose is to produce improved seedlings, which can be distributed or sold to small-scale farmers who are ready to be involved in the value chain.
Onwualu stressed the importance of good varieties that will have more liquid and smaller seeds so as to give value to the fruit juice industry.
"We want to encourage farmers to grow the plants so that the supply side can be taken care of," he said.
Good varieties of fruits are used in the production of concentrates, the major raw materials for the production of fruit juice.
For those involved in raw fruit juice production, method of harvesting should not inflict injuries on the fruits as this can affect the juice.
"Harvesting in the optimal stage of fruit development has a pronounced effect on income. Harvesting too early results in incomplete use of the yield potential of an orchard and fruits not at their peak quality.
"Delaying harvest results in losses due to fruit abscission and softening, leading to shortened shelf life, reduced storage and increased internal disorders. Hence, optimal harvesting time and methods are critical considerations in determining the quality, yield and income from farm produce."
He added, "Taking an example, indeed, traders often forget or do not know that oranges can only ripen on the tree (orange being a non-climacteric crop like pepper) and the quality of the fruit begins to deteriorate immediately after plucking. No matter the region, it is important that oranges not only mature, but ripen before being plucked."
About 90 per cent of the fruit juice concentrates used in the country is imported, while the target of the agency is to promote the production of the concentrates in the country and reduce importation by about 80 per cent in the next three years.
We have a project for the development of technology for the production of fruit juice concentrates in the country,
So fruit juice concentrate offers entrepreneurs two opportunities. One can get involved in the development and marketing of the technology or in utilising the technology for the production of concentrates.
The choice of appropriate technology is critical in processing and packaging of fruits.
Most of the processing equipment is mainly imported, while locally fabricated ones are poorly patronised because of durability issues.
The materials used for the design and construction of locally make equipment are mainly not of high specifications and cannot be classified as meeting world standards.
Government can alleviate this constraint that is critical to fruit and vegetable processing by setting up modern technology/fabrication centres and providing funding for local manufacturers of processing equipment.
The effect of these strategies will bring an improvement and create employment opportunities.
The agency is encouraging small-scale processors at the farm gates. Such processors can either sell directly to the big processors or directly to the final users.
Opportunities exist in crushing and bottling. We want to see the emergence of thousands of SMEs in fruit processing at different levels.
Other areas, which growers and processors must pay attention to, according to are transportation, preservation, power supply, storage, research and development, as well as partnership with relevant organisations.
Such organisations include the RMRDC, while the agency can offer technical support, training and consultancy on equipment.
