Oil palm products profitable agricultural ventures – NIFOR

Omorefe Asemota, the executive director, Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR), said oil palm commodities and their value chain were profitable agricultural ventures.

Asemota stated this on Thursday in Abuja in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

He explained that all the products that were under the mandate of the institute were profitable and viable to generate sizeable incomes for families’ livelihoods.

“Palm oil business can generate profitable income that can sustain families because there are activities across the entire value chain, starting from primary production that people can engage in profitably and sustainably.

“We have activities that can improve the livelihood of people across the entire national landscape from the mangrove swamps all the way to the Sahel in the North.

“Each of these commodities is profitable as an agricultural venture. Any of them properly cultivated is capable of enriching families.

“I mean looking beyond MDGs target of one dollar a day, lives will be more enriched and there will be improved living conditions,” he said.

Speaking on the mandate of NIFOR, the DG said its assignment was to improve palm products, produce farm inputs for farmers, and carry out research into best practices that would maximise productivity.

According to him, the institute is also saddled with the responsibility of processing and developing by-products which are a value addition to primary products.

The DG also listed some machines manufactured by NIFOR as nuts-cracker, automatic cracker-separator, storage tank with steam/hot circulatory system, palm water briquette, and palm oil recovery tank.

He said that the institute was involved in training programmes, especially for farmers and called on them to take advantage of the opportunity to achieve best practices in the sector.

The DG urged states and local governments to assist farmers benefit from the training opportunities that the organisation offered.

NIFOR since its establishment in 1939 has contributed immensely to the research and development of the country’s palm industry.

NIFOR’s major research mandate crops are the oil palm, coconut, date palm, raffia palm and the shea butter.