Ondo Set To Re-Enact Cocoa Production

The Ondo State Govern
ment is set to increase its revenue base and also create employment through the re-enactment of the famous cocoa production for which the region was known.
According to the chairman of the Cocoa Revolution Project (CRP), Dr. Jobayo Oyebade, the idea was to make sure the beans produced in the state reached premium stage.
According to The Tide source, this would increase the value in the international market.
Since premium means the highest quality cocoa beans, Oyebade explained that the vision of Governor Olusegun Mimiko was that what was best for agriculture is to see it as the major money-generating agricultural project.
The CRP boss said the revolution on ground was based on per hectare, where 1,100 seedlings would be planted per hectare at spacing of three metres on line and three metres between the line.
The former lawmaker further explained that the important aspect in the revolution drive was to kick start the beans from the existing trees on the state cocoa plantation. He said the Odua cocoa plantation which was established in 1954 by Obafemi Awolowo has 1,744 hectares, according to reports  from the archieves in Ibadan.
The state, he further revealed has about 156,000 hectares of cocoa and most of the reserves had been encroached on.
Presently, according to Oyebade, farmers in the state are producing thrash because the cocoa beans suffer 100 per cent reduction in the open market.
To arrest this trend he said the CRP was embarking on acceptable approach to the processing of the cocoa beans to the highest international quality level called ‘X Premium’.
The former commissioner for agriculture argued that organic fertilizer was the best for the state land unlike what was recommended for it by some federal government agencies in the past.