By Samuel
Cross River State Government has said that the state’s cocoa sub-sector can become a major source of internally generated revenue for the nation’s economy.
According to the government, it has topped the list of cocoa producing states in the country, due to the massive investment in its value chains.
Special Adviser to the State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, on Cocoa Development and Control, Dr. Oscar Ofuka revealed this to newsmen in Abuja.
Cocoa has become one of the priority crops of the state government, which has unleashed the ultra-modern cocoa processing plant in Ikom.
In Ofuka’s remarks, cocoa in no distant time will become a top foreign exchange earner for the state and the entire nation.
He said the growth of the cocoa sub-sector was moving at an admirable pace, a situation occasioned by the difference in the seed variety.
The government’s focus on the commodity, Ofuka added, has resulted in a huge reduction in the state’s unemployment rate.
“Traders from some of these southwest states now invade our cocoa communities to buy off our cocoa fruits, mix them up with theirs which is obviously of low in quality for sale for use.
“The cocoa seeds we have in Cross River State are the TC 2 seedlings. They grow and produce fruits in 18 months, unlike the conventional ones that take five to six years to grow.
“They are of improved variety. They don’t grow too tall but short. We have raised millions of these seedlings and distributed them to cocoa farmers in Cross River State,”.he explained.
Ofuka further stated that the revamp of the moribund cocoa plantations in the state has engaged more youths, thereby reducing crime rates.
He urged Nigerians to engage massively in the cocoa value chains, as the crop can be grown anywhere in the country.