Agriculture
AN agriculturist, Mr Chijioke Egbu, Head of Palm Oil Seedling Distribution, Enugu State Ministry of Agriculture, has urged retirees to embrace oil palm cultivation for its huge financial benefits.
Egbu gave this advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Enugu.
He described oil palm farming as financially rewarding, adding that everything on palm tree was valuable from the fruits to the palm kernels, the palm frond among others.
According to him, almost all lands in the South-East are suitable for the proper yield and survival of the oil palm trees, adding that with little capital, one can go into such farming.
He called on retirees, willing to go into oil palm cultivation, to seek advice on training and how to grow the seedlings from the state’s ministry of agriculture.
Egbu advised retired civil servants, already in the business, to always buy quality oil palm seedlings from the ministry in the state or from the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR), Benin.
According to him, the palm oil, derives from the oil palm tree, has healthy benefits because of the vitamins contained in it.
“Palm oil has vitamins that help the body to function well, and it is sold both in the local and international markets.
“If you have good quantity of palm oil, selling it is never a problem because it is a product that is always in high demand.
“A good oil palm plantation can produce thousands of tons of palm oil in a year, that can fetch millions of naira in the local market.
“The produce can be exported to other countries and fetch foreign exchange,” Egbu said. (NAN)
– Oct 31, 2019 @ 13:59 GMT |
Tags: agriculturist advises retirees Embrace oil palm cultivation
