… as FG plans cassava plant for  Ondo

The Ogun State Government says it is planning to use about 300 hectares for the multiplication of improved cassava varieties, to increase productivity of its growers.

Just as the Federal Government disclosed that Ondo state is one of the 18 states in the country that it plans to establish cassava processing plants.

Mrs Ronke Sokefun, the Commissioner for Agriculture, said this during the week  in Abeokuta at a one-day stakeholders’ conference on cassava, organised by the German Government through the pro-poor growth and promotion of employment in Nigeria (GIZ-SEDIN).

Sokefun said the government was also providing support to cassava processors by sustaining supply  chain development.

Represented by the Director, Cassava Revolution Programme, Mr. Gbele Olugbebi, Sokefun disclosed that government had marked cassava as a crop of emphasis and was poised to transform the cassava sub-sector.

“As one of the leading cassava producing states in the country and with the largest capacity for cassava processing, Ogun is not leaving any stone unturned in transforming the cassava sub-sector.

“Government is giving the transformation a holistic and value-chain approach, thereby making Ogun the state to beat in the development of cassava.”

She added that government was equally encouraging the development of associations to raise stakeholders’ efficiency in input procurement and develop a reliable and as well as a sustainable market for their product.

Prof. Lateef Sanni, the Programme Director, Cassava Adding Value to Africa (CAVA), disclosed that an industrial pathway for cassava had already been established in Ogun.

He called on government to provide land for the cultivation of cassava if agriculture was to become a business as expressed by this present administration.

Meanwhile, the |Federal Government has disclosed that  Ondo state is one of the 18 states in the country that  it planned to establish cassava processing plants.

Mrs Toyin Adetunji, the Technical Adviser (Operations) to the Minister of  Agriculture, disclosed this  during the week in Akure on the sidelines of  a   meeting with  Gov. Olusegun Mimiko.

She expressed   government’s readiness to collaborate with the Ondo State Government in the area of  land acquisition and clearing.