Oil Palm president asks new Minister to harness potential in tree crops

The National President, Oil Palm Producers, Processors, and Marketers Association of Nigeria, Comrade Alphonsus Inyang has called on the new Agric Minister, Dr. Mohammed Abubakar to prioritize the development of tree crops based on their potentials to create jobs and wealth for the nation.

In his statement made available to Food Farm News titled " Agenda for the new Minister," Alphonso asked the minister for better active policies that would drive the sector and particularly the development of cash tree crops to fullness capacity of job creation.

Read the full text of the statement " Agenda for the new Agriculture Minister: The Honorable Minister should focus his energy in the development of a more sustainable sector of the agriculture industry through well-articulated policies and massive development of tree crop commodities such as Oil Palm, cocoa, cashew nuts, rubber, coconut, tea and coffee to recover the lost glory of the country in the production, processing, and exports of these commodities.

These commodities should be regarded as mandate commodities and huge budgets should be made for them in the 2022 fiscal year.

Each of these commodities can generate at least 5 million new jobs as each plantation will produce for up to 50 years.

As National President of Nigeria’s premier and umbrella association for all smallholder farmers in the oil Palm value chain, we urge the Honorable Minister to partner with the National Palm Produce Association of Nigeria (NPPAN) in its Programme ‘one household, 20 Palm trees ‘ to populate our rural communities with oil Palm trees thereby generating over 5 million jobs by the end of 2023.

The association is open to work with the minister in the replacement of none economic trees on our landscape with Palm trees across the country"