An entrepreneur, Mr Yandev Amaabai, has advised the Federal Government to fast-track the transportation of yam tubers to the United States of America and the United Kingdom before their shelf life expiration.

Amaabai, who is the Managing Director of  Wan Nyikwagh Farms Nigeria Limited, made this appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday.

He said that the Federal Government’s policy on yam exportation was a good initiative, noting that Nigeria was the largest producer of yam tubers in Africa.

According to him, for the policy to achieve its set objectives, there are some challenges that should be addressed by the government to ease the stress of exporting farm produce to other countries.

“I moved my yams from Benue to Lagos on June 25 and June 26; the inauguration  for the yam exportation was on  June 29 by the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh.

“When we got to Lagos, I discovered that we needed a refrigerated  container to export the yams.

“After the inauguration, I was able to get the required container, so my yams were loaded on July 7 and left Nigeria on July 9 to the U.S. but the yams did not get there until Sept. 1.

“After the inauguration , we were left alone without any form of direction or assistance by the government and this did not go down well with us.

“Because movement  within the ports took us more than two to three weeks and to move a container from Tin Can port to Apapa port just a close distance, was hectic for us, ” he said.

According to him, the Federal Government agency saddled with the responsibility to ensure proper packaging and handling of this produce for export lacks the requisite capacity.

“We were asked to cut the bottom of the yams and put wax but when the yams got to the U.S., we discovered that was not necessary. The moment you cut the bottom of the yam, it gets rotten quicker.

“So some of the yams on arriving the U.S. were actually not too good again but most others were good and we sold them out, ” he said.

Reacting to the recent report of poor quality of consignment of yams exported from Nigeria to the US, the exporter  debunked the story, saying that the report was politically motivated to frustrate government’s efforts.

“We did not have any challenge with the American Government; my yams was the first to arrive. It was cleared and delivered in the warehouse.

“There is no way these yams could have been 100 per cent good because of the time wasted to ship them to the U.S.

Amaabai, however, called on the Federal Government to reach out to these shipping lines on the need to fast-track the delivery of such perishable products.

NAN reports that the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), an agency that has the responsibility to ensure the quality of yam for export, provided farmers with guidelines to meet international standards.

Dr Vincent Isegbe, the Coordinating Director, NAQS, spelt out the conditions to include: uniform size of the product, no growth on the head, cut and waxed with candle to prevent infections.

However, a recent report had it that poor quality of yam tubers were exported to the U.S., which the Federal Government  planned  to investigate.