Adamawa State in collaboration with the Federal Government have initiated plans to resuscitate cocoa farming in the state.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Umar Daware, stated this on Tuesday in Yola.
Daware said the state government had prepared to resuscitate and participate fully in cocoa farming. ”Cocoa is one of the cash crops the Federal Government has given priority and fortunately, the southern parts of the state, especially Ganye and Toungo Local Government Areas, have fertile land suitable for cocoa farming.
”We are in collaboration with the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria on how to revive cocoa farming in the state. ”So far, we have identified and allocated enough hectares of farmland for cocoa farming in the state,” he said.
Umar Daware explained that the Federal Government had established a national cocoa production centre in Toungo which, however, presently needed urgent attention from the appropriate authority.
He said the state government had identified cocoa farmers and was working closely with them to fast track successful resuscitation of the programme ”We are also in liaison with the Apex Bank, who expressed interest to provide some interventions to kick-start the programme,“ he said.
According to the Commissioner, the state government has been making efforts at planning and collaborations over the programme, adding that as soon as modalities were completed, cocoa cultivation would commence in full scale in the state.
(NAN)
