FG to revive agriculture sector

Yinka Oladoyinbo, Akure - 25.04.2008

President Umaru Yar’Adua on Thursday, said the Federal Government would take necessary action to revive the agricultural sector of the economy.

He said government was ready to maintain wholesome agricultural practices to ensure that the sector’s contribution to the economic development of the country is increased.

Speaking through Vice President Goodluck Jonathan at the closing of the fourth National Cocoa Day Celebration, the president said the various programmes and policies introduced on cocoa were meant to increase productivity.

He said the policy on local consumption of cocoa was packaged with the aim of increasing the consumption of the product by Nigerians. The president, however, lamented that the price of cocoa in the world market was not being determined by the producer of the product, saying that increase in local consumption was one of the major steps that could lead to an increase in price.

According to the president, concerted efforts of the various tiers of government in the country had led to the increase in production level from 170, 000 metric tonnes in 1999 to about 300, 000 metric tonnes in 2006.

Yar’Adua added that government had initiated some programmes meant to further increase the production of the product and thereby increase the foreign exchange earning of the country.

He listed the programmes to include encouragement of the processing sub-sector through the introduction of incentives like loans and tax holiday for the sector.

Apart from these, he said government would introduce subsidy to farmers, encourage processing of by-products of cocoa and promotion of health benefits of the product.

The president challenged the youth of the cocoa producing states to see cocoa as a crop of not only the present but of the future and be interested in its cultivation, as the nation had the potentials to be number one cocoa producing country in the world.