Researchers record breakthrough in bitter kola production

Researchers at the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN), Ibadan, have been able to significantly reduce the gestation period of the bitter kola tree from between 30 and 20 years to about 3 years.

This news was broken by a researcher at FRIN, Dr. Fred Yakubu, at the institute's headquarters during an interview with Food Farm News, recently in Ibadan.

Dr. Fred Yakubu said the research that was aimed at finding ways of mass-producing bitter kola seeds in a shorter period of time had been successful, saying that it was now possible to have any number of seedlings needed by farmers.

He stressed that efforts to mass-produce, using grafting, had been successful.

Statistics revealed that Nigeria reportedly produces about 150,000 tons of bitter kola annually, with 90 per cent consumed locally. And the country's bitter kola production is expected to expand massively soon based on increased local consumption and export demand, particularly from Asian countries like China, Indonesia, and Japan.

Major producing states include Ondo, Niger, Enugu, Osun, Oyo, Imo