In a bid to boost the
state’s economy, the Rivers State Government has been called upon to revive the cultivation of cash crops.
An agriculturalist, Mr. Nnamdi Amadi made the call in an exclusive interview with The Tide Monday in Port Harcourt.
He said cash crops such as cocoa, rubber, timber and others, could boost the state’s economy, if properly harnessed.
Amadi recalled that cocoa which was of a great value from the 1950s-60s, since the discovery of crude oil in the Niger Delta, has so far, received less attention.
The agric expert said before now, the state and other parts of the country depended solely on agricultural products for its survival.
He pointed out that the cocoa House in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State was built with proceed from cocoa.
The fishery and forestry graduate said until the state falls back to agriculture and the cultivation of cash crops as its focal point, it will continue to find it difficult to arrest unemployment.
He maintained that the economy may never improve, saying that a radical approach to issues will evoke the needed magic.
About the likely areas to site the farms, he said the Elele and Etche Rubber estates should be revived as a starting point.
He also suggested some places around Ekpeye region for cocoa plantation following its rich-soil nature.
He regretted that cash crop which was a leading factor in the state and country’s economy has now been relegated, hinting that it would soon take its normal position going by the dwindling crude oil market.
Meanwhile, Nnamdi Amadi has called on secondary school leavers, to consider studying agriculture as a major discipline, should they have the opportunity to be admitted into the tertiary institutions.