Institute Releases Varieties Of Cocoa Seedlings

In its effort to bring back the lost glory of cocoa as one of Nigeria’s main export crop, the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) released eight improved varieties of cocoa seedlings.

Head of Crop Improvement at the Institute, Mrs Anna Muyiwa, disclosed this last Wednesday in Abuja at a Media Fellowship Training for Journalists organised by Biosciences for Farming in Africa (B4FA).

She said the new varieties of cocoa seedlings could mature in 18 months and would help to improve farmers’ yield.

She said that farmers had been coming to the institute to collect the seedlings.

“It is this improved variety of cocoa seedlings that the Federal Government distributed to farmers free last year,” she said.

Muyiwa said that the institute had dispatched extension workers to farmers to monitor the growth of the seedlings on their farms.

She said that the institute had also undertaken research on the latest technique of `top crafting’ that would produce a variety of cocoa seedlings that could mature in nine months.

The Tide source reports that the six-month programme for journalists was launched in 2012.

It is aimed at bridging the gap between science and the public by promoting better understanding and dialogue on developments in agriculture and biosciences throughout Africa.

It is also aimed at encouraging dialogue and promoting better understanding of the available options for improving agricultural productivity in Ghana, Tanzania, Nigeria and Uganda.