Lokoja—GovERNOR Idris Wada of Kogi, yesterday said that agricultural experts from Vietnam would arrive in the state next week to teach the farmers new techniques of cultivating cashew and cassava.
Wada told a news conference in Lokoja that the experts would come to Nigeria with a new high-yielding variety of cashew, found to be suitable for cultivation in the state.

According to the governor, the collaboration is aimed at consolidating the position of the state as the number one producer of cashew and cassava in the country.
Wada said the experts would work in conjunction with selected farmers to establish new cashew plantations in the three senatorial zones.

He said the Vietnamese would also replace the existing ageing cassava and cashew plantations in the state.
According to Wada, the government has set up a team to help in the grading of cashew being produced in the state to enable the farmers to make more money.
Wada said the Kogi State University, Ayingba, had been mandated to establish a Cashew Centre of Excellence to conduct research, add more value and attract more patronage.

On cassava, he said that all the 21 local government councils were fully involved in the cultivation of the crop.
He said the state government would increase the 2,000 hectare cassava farm at Alape to 15,000 hectares in 2015.
Wada said the state had the potential to become the number one producer of rice in Nigeria.