The Director-General,
Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Dr Joseph Odumodu, said the Federal Government was committed to making agriculture alternative source of income to oil.
Odumodu told newsmen  in Abuja on Wednesday that SON had established food laboratory to support the Federal Government’s plan.
He said that the laboratory would enable the exporters of Nigerian agricultural produce to take advantage of the laboratory to certify their goods for international acceptance.
The D-G said that after the produce would have been tested and certified in the laboratory, the internationally-accredited laboratory would not be able to reject them at the international market.
“Our organisation has lots of challenges with imported goods than those manufactured within. In our last statistics, less than five per cent of sub-standard products were imported goods.
“Once our agricultural products are accepted in the international market, we can be rest assured that we will be able to generate more income to the poll than oil,” he said.
Odumodu said that the organisation would partner with states, local governments and farmers to ensure that products like cocoa, timber, cassava, yam, cashew, palm produce, rubber, groundnut and others enjoyed global reckoning.
He said that this was the best time to strengthen the agricultural and industrial sectors to boost non-oil exports and increase the country’s foreign exchange in the face of the dwindling oil situation.
In a separate interview,  the Director-General, Raw Materials and Research Development Dr Hussaini Ibrahim, told our correspondent that the council was committed to make farmers partake in its cluster programmes to foster economic growth.
“We involved the agricultural sector as part of strategy to accelerate the pace of development in the micro, small and medium enterprise in the country as engine for industrial and economic advancement,” he said.