27/09/2012 (BusinessDay) - As part of its agricultural transformation agenda, the Federal Government has concluded plans to cultivate 9 million oil palm seedlings.

The seedlings, which would be distributed free to oil palm farmers, will be undertaken by the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR).

Omorefe Asemota, executive director of the institute who gave the hint in Benin City during a courtesy visit to the Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole, however, urged the state government to establish 50,000 hectares of oil palm belt.

Asemota also disclosed in an exclusive interview with BusinessDay that out of the 9 million seedlings, about 409,000 would be distributed to oil palm farmers in the state, adding that the 50,000 hectares of oil palm belt, which would be planted over a period of five years, have the capacity of contributing N30 billion to the state annually. He also added that it could provide employment for over 5,000 people as well as several thousand indirect jobs.

According to him, we understand that many investors are already expressing interest in the sector. In addition to the efforts, we would urge that the state establish an oil palm belt of at least 50,000 hectares where the primary activity would be oil palm cultivation, to be planted over a five year period.

“Half could be devoted to large estates. The remaining half, taking into consideration the fact that our farmers are mostly small holders and desirous that many families be gainfully employed by their involvement in this enterprise, could be partitioned to family in lots of about four to five hectares, which they would crop as out-growers.

“If this is done, from current yields of 18 tons of fresh fruit bunches per year and with prices of N200, 000 per tons, revenues from the 50,000 hectares could as much as N30 billion per year, and the industry could directly employ 5,000 people.

“A large number of indirect jobs in such areas as fertilizers, agrochemical, processing and marketing would also be available,” he said.

Speaking on the development, Abdul Oroh, the state commissioner for agric, lauded the Federal Government initiative, noting that the state had already keyed into the Federal Government agricultural transformation policies.

Oroh, who pointed out that farmers in the state have been mobilised to cultivate about 200,000 hectares of oil palm in the next two to three years, urged government to also distribute all other farm inputs free to farmers in the country as it was being done in the case of cocoa and oil palm seedlings.

He however urged the Federal Government and the authorities of Central Bank of Nigeria to prevail on commercial banks to liberalise their agricultural lending policies.