FG To Plant 3m Seedlings Of Improved Cashew Yearly – FG

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is to plant three million seedlings of improved cashew every year for the next four years.The minister of agriculture and rural development, Chief Audu Ogbe disclosed this yesterday during the flag off of the 2016 Cashew Festival and National Cashew Season in Ilorin,Kwara state.Represented by a director in the ministry, Mr Titus Efuntoye, Ogbe said this forms part of efforts to boost production of cashew as a foreign exchange earner for the country.He described cashew as a game changer as every part of the fruit was money.The minister said about 30,000 hectares of land in cashew producing states would be covered.“Farmers would be supported in rejuvenating their old cashew plantations by replacing the old plans with the improved varieties.”The Kwara state governor, Alh Abdulfatah Ahmed at the event said if farmers had access to affordable credit, problems associated with the transformation of agriculture into viable agribusiness would be overcome in the country. Source: http://leadership.ng