The Ladoke Akintola University of
Technology, Ogbomoso has signed a memorandum of understanding with the
University of Wisconsin-Stout, United States of America on processing of
mangoes and cashew which are produced in large quantities in Ogbomoso.
The Vice Chancellor of LAUTECH, Prof.
Adeniyi Gbadegesin, said this in his welcome address at the convocation lecture
of
the university in Ogbomoso on Thursday.
The vice chancellor said the university
decided to impact its host community by finding a way to preserve the fruits
which were seasonal in order to add value to them.
He said, ” We all know that Ogbomoso
mangoes are sought after in places like Lagos, Ibadan and others. If it is not
Ogbomoso mango, people believe such mango is not original.
” We recognise that mangoes are in
season now but a large number of them perish, so also cashew and we have to do
something to add value to them.
” The guest lecturer for 13th
convocation lecture, Prof. Femi Adekola, who is the Dean, College
of Management, University of Wisconsin-Stout, USA and others from
the same university are here to discuss how to add value to these fruits.
“One of the things we are here
to do is to explore this area for collaboration with other universities
to explore this area in other to add value to these resources. The Faculty
of Agricultural Science and the Department of Food Sciences
and Engineering and those in Chemical Engineering are also trying their
best to collaborate in this area.”
Adekola said the two universities would
look at ways to collaborate on value addition to the fruits and also on
hospitality.
According to him, the university can
tackle its funding problem and become self financing by solving problems
in the society.
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