The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) says it will collaborate with Kwara State Agro Mall to enhance agricultural production in the state.

The state Coordinator of SON, Mr Sunday Yashim, said this in Ilorin on Thursday in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

He underscored the need to enlighten farmers in the state on various agricultural best practices to enhance the quality of their produce.

Yashim maintained that farmers in the rural areas needed to work more on the quality of their produce to enable them to compete with others in the international market.

Yashim said that a standard Code for Agricultural Practice (CAP) had been set up to guide farmers on how to cultivate the land and the type of fertilisers that was suitable for a particular crop.

He said that CAP’s guide to farmers included appropriate chemicals for pest control; methods of harvest, preservation and packaging as well as sales of produce.

He, however, urged the Kwara Government to provide vehicles for the organisation to enable it to monitor the activities of farmers across the 16 local government areas of the state.

Speaking on unlicensed local liquid soap production, Yashim noted that the organisation was determined to encourage Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) to improve on the quality of their produce.

“The people making local liquid soap are making a living out of it.

‘‘It will go a long way in the industry only if they are encouraged to excel.

‘‘We will do this by putting them on the path of standardisation,’’ he added.

He, however, called for a ban on the importation of products that were available locally so as to protect the indigenous industries.