Industrial Production: Council Seeks Cultivation Of Arable Lands

The Executive Direc
tor/CEO of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council, (NEPC), Mr Osusegun Awolowo, has said that for the non-oil export sector to make the desirable impact on the economy, there was need to scale-up cultivation of agricultural produce.
Awolowo made the remark in a statement made available to our correspondent at the zonal office of the council in Port Harcourt  yesterday while receiving in his office recently  a team of officials of the National Ginger Association of Nigeria (NGAN).
He noted that the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) would only succeed if there was concerted effort to increase and grow the agric sector.
Awolowo said that this could be achieved through the provision of improved seedlings to replace aging and moribund plantations, provision of cutting edge  technology to enhance the quality of farm produce as well as developing an agric-business culture among Nigerians.
In her response, the president of NGAN  Dr Florence Edwards maintained that the major challenge of exporting Nigerian ginger was the issue of marketing the product in its raw form instead of adding value.
She said though Nigerian ginger was reputed to be the best in the world, it has failed to command a  premium value and status in the international market due largely to poor processing and inadequate data of exporters of the commodity.
She further called on exporters to be forthright in the business of agricultural products exports in order to boost the image of the country.