Oyo govt earmarks N125m to boost cocoa production

Oyo State Government said it had set aside N125 million to boost cocoa production for the 2014/2015 Planting Season.

Gabriel Kehinde, General Manager, Cocoa Development Unit, Oyo State, disclosed this in an interview in Ibadan. He said, “While N110 million is for the commencement of Youth Empowerment Programmes in Cocoa Production, N15 million is for one million cocoa seedlings for free distribution to farmers.

The General Manager said that government distributed 640,000 and 350,000 metric tonnes of free seedlings to farmers in all the 33 Local Government areas of the state in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

He, however, listed some of the challenges facing cocoa production as the inadequacy of suitable land.

Others, he mentioned, included the oil boom of the early 90s which led to the Rural-Urban drift of farmers and old age of cocoa trees, requiuring replanting.

Also, Alhaji Muniru Oladayo, Oyo State Chairman of the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN), said real cocoa farmers were not benefiting from the Federal Government’s subsidy on agro-chemicals.

He appreciated the efforts of the government to subsidise agro-chemicals to farmers by 50 per cent, but declared that the chemicals were not readily available to the true farmers.

“One of the problems facing cocoa farmers is that while the majority of agro-dealers prefer to buy from suppliers on credit, these suppliers insist on ‘cash and carry’ transactions.

“As a result of this, the chemicals and other agricultural supplies needful for ample farming production do not readily get to the real farmers.

“This manner of business will not, in any way, favour the farmers and we urge the government to intervene,” he said.

Akin Agunbiade of the ECOWAS Human Rights Farmers in Oyo State urged the government to encourage agricultural researchers and institutes by making adequate funds available to them.

“The diseases and pests against cocoa are enormous, yet we believe that if researches are well funded, we could have a way out.

“Researchers should be encouraged to develop diseaseresistant and pest-resistant cocoa seedlings, in addition to developing those that mature within a short period of time,” he said.

Olumide Ayinla, the Oyo State Chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), disclosed that cocoa production could be rescued from extinction by encouraging the younger generation to take to it.

“Many younger people do not see cocoa farming as what they could invest time and money in. To them, it does not bring quick proceeds due to its relatively long maturity period.

“They want something quick; a quick return on investment and if your thinking is along the line of quick money, you cannot think of going into cocoa farming.

“Cocoa farming may take time, but with patience, you will eventually earn your returns,’’ he said.

Ayinla also said that most cocoa farmers did not have their own land to plant, but had to depend on rented or leased land.

“A cocoa farmer needs his own piece of land, because no landowner would allow a farmer to make use of his land for the period of years required for cocoa to grow up to maturity.

“Landowners want farmers to plant crops that could be planted and harvested within months and not crops like cocoa that takes up to about two to three years,” he said.

Also, Ondo State chapter, Cocoa Farmers Association, had commended the state government’s resolve to enhance cocoa production and put Nigeria on the top chart of cocoa producing nations.

The chairman of the association, Mr Mathew Akerele, told NAN that government had established a project tagged: “Cocoa Revolution” towards boosting cocoa production.

The chairman also commended government for the special funds set aside for the cocoa revolutionary project in the state.

Akerele, however, identified inadequate supply of chemicals, low price of cocoa and the non-availability of labourers as the major problems responsible for the decline of cocoa production in the state.

“One of the challenges facing cocoa production is lack of chemicals and unstable price of cocoa in the country.

“Also, our youths are not ready to farm. They rather prefer to ride commercial motorcycles, known as Okada, in the cities,” he said.

Akerele urged the State and Federal Governments to encourage the youths to go into farming by providing social amenities in the rural areas.

He said that there was a recent partnership between the association and Diamond Bank, aimed at giving loan to cocoa farmers at convenient interest rates.

According to him, the partnership, which is aimed at assisting the farmers to boost their activities, will cut across the 18 council areas of the state.

The chairman explained that such a loan would be disbursed through farmers’ cooperative societies and not on individual basis— to ensure possible and quick repayment.

“Also, officials of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture have come recently to the state to carry out some assessments and have shown interest to assist the farmers with funds.

“However, the farmers are being assisted with subsidised seedlings and farm inputs through Growth Enhancement Scheme, but most farmers have not been able to access these facilities due to economic factors,” Akerele said.

(NAN)