Farmers urged to plant cash crops

Cash crop farmers in Nigeria have been advised to increase their cultivation of the crops for the country's export trade, especially since the Federal Government has initiated a ₦200 billion Fund for the promotion of commercial agriculture.

Aminu Koko, the manager of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Jos zone, gave this advice to farmers in an interview in Jos on Sunday.

He said crops such as cotton, ginger, sesame seed, groundnut, soya-bean and garlic, should be cultivated for export as they are in high demand in places like Germany, China, Great Britain and Japan.

"Part of the responsibility of the council is to assist farmers with the market information and link them with exporters of such produce," Mr. Koko said.

"The Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) in the north-central states should also mobilize their farmers to produce more for export. They should also be assisted with improved seeds that would yield more," he added.

Commenting on the role of agriculture in Nigeria's export trade, Romeo Berberopoulos, the board chairman of Nexportrade House Ltd, said in an email, that the agricultural sector is the only way forward for Africans as there needs to be a shift from the importation of foreign to exportation of African goods and services, especially agricultural produces.

This, he said, will help industries, agriculture and commerce to grow on the continent and be known around the world.

"Nigeria has to take the opportunity of the global crises and go back to agriculture," he said. "The nation neglected agriculture for urbanisation due to the oil boom, forgetting the economic crisis that led to the devaluation of the Naira from one Naira to a Pound."

The Nigerian government had said that the agriculture fund is part of its initiative to revive the sector to serve as an alternative source of the country's revenue, to correct its sole dependence on the oil sector.