FG FLAGS OFF DISTRIBUTION OF ONE MILLION COCOA SEEDLINGS
By: Safiya Abdulrahim Dabban
IBADAN — The Federal Government has flagged off the distribution of one million improved hybrid cocoa seedlings to farmers across Nigeria’s 14 cocoa-producing states as part of efforts to revive the country’s cocoa industry and boost agricultural exports.
Launching the programme at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) in Ibadan, Oyo State, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, said the initiative would help improve cocoa production, increase farmers’ incomes and create jobs.
He said the improved seedlings are high-yielding, disease-resistant and climate-smart, adding that the government would also provide farmers with extension services and other support to improve productivity.
Kyari said the intervention forms part of the National Cocoa Development Plan under the Renewed Hope Agenda aimed at restoring Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global cocoa market.
The ceremony ended with the symbolic distribution of improved cocoa seedlings to farmers drawn from the country’s 14 cocoa-producing states.