FG set to plant 3m cashew seedlings to boost revenue — Ogbe

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbe, has described cashew as a game changer as every part of the fruit was money.
Chief Ogbe said as part of efforts to boost production of cashew as a foreign exchange earner in the country, the Federal government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is plant three million seedlings of improved cashew every year in the next four years.
The Minister, who was represented by a Director in the Ministry, Mr Titus Efuntoye during the flag off of the 2016 Cashew Festival and National Cashew Season in Ilorin, said about 30,000 hectares of land in cashew producing states would be covered.
According to him, “farmers would be supported in rejuvenating their old cashew plantations by replacing the old plans with the improved varieties”.
Speaking at the event, Kwara State Governor, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed said if farmers have access to affordable credit, problems associated to the transformation of agriculture into viable agribusiness would be overcome in the country.
Gov. Ahmed said his administration had since embraced agric-business as one of the strategies for diversifying the state’s economy, curbs unemployment and create wealth for the people.
“Hence, in our drive to empower farmers in the state, we have established the Kwara Agro Mall, the Off-Taker Demand Driven Agricultural Programme to ensure economic prosperity of farmers in the State”.
The President of National Cashew Association of Nigeria, Mr Babatola Fasheru in his address said cashew provides livelihood to over 300,000 households.
Mr Fasheru said plans were on to improve national cashew production to 500,000 tonnes by year 2020.