By Nurudeen Alimi
National president of Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN), Adeola Adegoke, has hinted that the association will work harmoniously with the Cocoa Research Institute (CRIN) to make sure that there is a shorter production period for cocoa varieties.
He noted that Nigeria must increase its production which is one of the things that the association set as a target to achieve in 2024 adding that they have been able to move to 500,000 metric tonnes and also make sure the farmers increase the premium production to make it attractive.
“I believe that we will definitely motivate Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) to make sure that we have even shorter production period for cocoa variety, what we have is Tc1-8, the production time is 18 months that is the least, but I still believe we can have a shorter period lesser than 18 months; so the association will work closely to bring another new variety that will have a short period and I believe that the crops of scientists that we have as at today can bring about that change.
“If you look at the climate now it is very hostile to cocoa production, it is hostile because we lost few months due to black pod. We need to bring out variety that will fight the current drought we are experiencing, there is need to put our scientists on their toes to look at some of these gaps and come up with variety that can surpass whatever variety that are actually available anywhere,” he said.
“The weather has been unstable, the weather has been very hostile to our cocoa trees and as a result of that, we also had black pod that affect and actually destroyed and reduce the capacity of some of our trees to produce optimally, so I think for this year we have to challenge some of our scientists and CRIN to come up with variety that can withstand this hostile weather conditions,” added Adegoke.
Adegoke noted that, “it is going to be a whole lot of collaborative efforts in 2023 to give Nigeria a kind of push in our productivity and production, we are targeting about 600kg per hectare in 2023, to see that we jump from 400kg to 600kg that can conveniently give more yield for our farmers and make sure that our farmers engage in good agronomy practices that can bring out a premium production that can attract international pricing that will influence our farmers lives.
Speaking further he said Nigeria is taking a proactive step with stakeholders, “in fact more than 50,000 Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) book has been distributed free of charge to small holders farmers to enhance their productivity, to enhance the safe use of pesticide, to be able to engage in smart practices and to be able to increase their production and productivity.
“We are going to make sure that there are a lot of innovations and practices that are in tandem with international practices that are well embedded as far as our economy is concerned in Nigeria. So we are going to work with other sister organizations to make sure that our smallholder farmers are not only given the right price, but are empowered to be able to sustain their immediate family and the community they live in.” he said.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
