FUNAAB empowers farmers with high-yielding kolanut seedlings

Recognising the economic value of increased production of kolanut to the Nigeria’s national income, the Agricultural Media Resources and Extension Centre (AMREC), an arm of Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) has orgainsed a capacity building training for scores of kolanut farmers drawn from nine local government areas of Ogun state.

The human development training, which featured both practical and theoretical sessions on production and processing of kolanut held at the Alabata main campus of the university over the weekend, ended with the distribution of thousands of high-yielding kolanut seedlings to scores of farmers drawn from Ijebu-Remo axis of the state in Ogun East Senatorial District.

Speaking at the workshop, Victor Olowe, professor and director of AMREC, said the gesture was in line with the extension mandate of FUNAAB and it aimed at boosting the agricultural enterprise of farmers by empowering them through replacement of aged and unproductive Kolanut trees with improved varieties for higher yields.

According to him, over the years, farmers had not demonstrated commensurate capacity to match the increasing demand for Kolanut at both local and inter-regional levels due to low productivity, hence, the need for the training to ensure that farmers benefitted from the economic potentials of Kolanut.

He said that kolanut is reputed to be the third most valued world stimulant, out of which Nigeria accounts for 70 percent of its global production. He however, assured the farmers of AMREC’s commitment by intensifying efforts at keeping them abreast of innovations and improved technology in kolanut cultivation for improved yields and national product.

Earlier, Gbenga Oyesola, director, Tree Crops and Rural Development Services in Ogun State Ministry of Agriculture, called on relevant agencies, educational institutions and research centres to partner kolanut farmers and Ogun state government in regulating and enhancing kolanut value-chain from production to utilization stage in order to revive its lost glory.

The director, who was represented by Adegboyega Odulate, pointed out the economic importance of kolanut among other cash crops, adding that Ogun state government had almost concluded plans to establish a Kolanut plantation that would be allocated to groups and individual farmers.

BusinessDay reports that participants were educated on the various credit schemes they could accessed from the Central Bank of Nigeria and were also advised to form themselves into co-operative groups, to get available benefits and support from commercial institutions and government.

Solomon Adebiyi and Francis Mokwunye, both from the Cocoa Research Institute (CRIN), Ibadan, Oyo State, updated participants’ knowledge on the potentials and cultural practices associated with kolanut in order to ensure improved yields, processing and preservation, just as two prominent Kolanut varieties: Cola nitida and Cola accumunata were showcased.

RAZAQ AYINLA