Cross River distributes 40,000 oil palm seedlings to farmers

Cross River State government last weekend distributed over 40,000 oil palm seedlings to farmers in the state, in collaboration with the federal ministry of agriculture.

The beneficiaries are Nsan Oil Palm site in Akamkpa Local Government and Igoli in Ogoja Local Government areas. Performing the flag-off ceremony, James Aniyom, the state commissioner for agriculture, said the oil palm transformation value chain was one of the several value chains being supported by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in pursuance of the Federal Government Agricultural Transformation Agenda.

According to Aniyom, the objective of the programme is to increase vegetable oil production through increase of oil palm production and processing in order to achieve import substitution and cancel deficit of 300,00mt, which was annually met through import.

Under GES allocation, registered oil palm growers are entitled to 50 oil palm seedlings, which will be given to them free. He said other inputs like 1½ bags of NPK 12: 12;17 fertiliser; ¼ bundle of wire collar and 2 litres of touch-down herbicide have been subsidised at 50 percent rate by both the federal and state government.

The programme also will create employment opportunities for youth, women and reduce poverty to the barest minimum as well as arouse greater interest and concern for engagement in the competitive market, he said.

Akinwunni Adesina, minister of agriculture, represented by Asibopong Bassey, Cross River State director, federal ministry of agriculture, said Nigeria produces about 1.3mt of oil palm and imports 300,000mt annually, amounting to $500 million in foreign exchange. It is because of this gap that the Federal Government under the oil palm value chain of Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) wants to bridge it, she said.

To her, the vision of the Federal Government is a hunger free nation, generate employment and transform the country from being an importer of food items to exporter of agricultural products in the shortest possible time and to transform the sector into a business driven.

Earlier, the chairman of oil palm growers association, Cross River State, Owali Ilem, said the Federal Government should therefore show commitments to the agricultural sector by complying with AU Maputo declaration and experts advice to developing nations by allocating 10 percent of its annual budget to sgriculture.

Ilem said only Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal and a few others, have complied with the declaration, noting that the highest allocation within the period was 7.4 percent, while last year it was just 3 percent and in 2013 it became 1.6 percent, while other countries with lesser income had complied.

By: MIKE ABANG