13/04/2008 (The Tide Online) - Alex J. Akor, an associate professor of Agricultural Engineering with the Rivers State university of Science and Technology, Nkpolu, Port Harcourt, is a man to trust when it comes to issues of local and international concern.

Akor revealed that in his recent work he had discovered that the country was long over due for reaping the potentials of the Agricultural sector which is fare more than the revenue derived from crude oil.

The university don, who spoke to The weekend Tide in Port Harcourt stated that as the world petroleum supplies become constrained, attention is therefore directed to crop-based resources averred that if for nothing, the present government of Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi should as a matter of urgency rehabilitate the Risonpalm at Ubima, informing that the company, if well managed, can convert the over dependence on oil in the region.

“Among such products are palm oil which fields over 3000kg/ha and common with good cultural practices or better put 20 barrels of petroleum equivalent per hectre a year.

We have for long noted that even the palm oil can alternate petroleum products. But successive governments have not given impetus to the production of oil palm products. We are naïve to the fact that this oil palm can power vehicle and still power other heavy duty machines.

He disclosed that before the crude oil became wides pread use in tropical countries, there was considerable interest in the use of both vegetable and animal products, stressing that the system of promoting agricultural yields in the country has been down graded by budgetary provision.

Akor said that the values of thermal efficiency for diesel fuel and various vegetable in the two test engines are high noting that observation made up of the above fuel were sprayed from an injector.

The Opening injector, according to him, was discovered to be the same with crude petroleum, which has meansures equally with the performance and the objective of mitigation some of the problems associated with the high viscosity and poor flow characteristic of palm and other vegetable oils.

The Nigeria government is yet to give the desired concern to the Agriculture sector, the university don noted that the public should be told what the huge budget expended in the sector of both the state and national level was used for.

He posited that in the state level, the government should be interested in the crops that can comfortably exchange for the most prized crude. And not the moribund huge expenditure on machinery and things that would not help the populace or promote the cultivation of crops.

Dr. Akor averred that if for nothing the present government of Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi should as a matter of urgency rehabilitate the Risonpalm at Ubima, informing that the company, if well managed, can convert the over dependence on oil in the region.

He said that palm oil can be substituted for petroleum products especially in diesel engines and that it may pose flow and atomization problems and the tendency is to identify the intermediate and low temperature.

However, we explained that details of production and energy. Balance characteristic of the oil palm system and information on the physical and chemical nature of palm oil and their derivatives are yet to be worked out.

The government of the state should act fast and save the oiling palm industry from further rot and utilise the huge expanse of land roting away.

“Let us not pretend. My department can offer consultancy on how to resuscitate that sector of the economy. We can not allow it to die. All hands must be on deck. There are millions of challenges in the emerging world economy. Why should we pretend.

Agriculture has entered in to a different segment in world Economy.

The University Don said that time has come when people must speak the truth about their environment and immediate habitat, as to know what and how to run economic activity in the localities and the various states.

Akor stated that he had made frantic efforts in the past to fabricate palm oil processing machine and to distribute it to the local government areas but lacked the necessary support from the authorities either in the university or from the state government, advising the government should not ignore the ingenuity of lecturers and reseach fellows who have spent time in breaking new grounds.

“I applaud the government of the state for the giant strides it has so far taken to return the state to this enviable standard.

Engineer A.J Akor, who is an international member of Association of Agricultural Engineers and hails from the Ogba Egbema Ndoni Local Government Area of the state said he believes in attitudinal change and character moulding, urging Rivers people to embrace the new administration in the state as the only thing that can ensure development.