The Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, has explained that a new vista in agricultural value chain is unfolding in the state with his government’s emphasis on Agro- Industrialisation.
He made the explanation while fielding questions from newsmen after a tour of the Cross River Seeds and Seedlings Factory Calabar.
The governor disclosed that his government has embarked on massive agro- industrial transformation never before seen in Nigeria.
According to him, in order to aid this pioneering efforts at large-scale mechanized agro-industrialisation, the State Government has takendelivery of state of the art  Agriculture machines from John Deere of the United States of America.
“Cross River has embarked on massive Agro- Industrialization transformation which is the only way  to go and it is the first level
of Industrialization. “In industrial revolution, it must be agro- industrial because  it is the only system that guarantees massive recruitment of people, massive production and ultimate beneficiation of raw materials, which means you take raw materials like cocoa and process it until you get chocolate”, the Governor said.
Ayade expressed his desire to get Cross River youths gainfullyemployed through Agro-industrialization, saying 90 percent of the industries he has established in the state are agro- based.
“Obviously, there is no way that all the industries I have set up, 90 percent of them agro-based, will function without the appropriate industrial farms.
“For example, the Garment Factory will require cotton, the instant noodles factory, which is rice-based, will require rice, the poultryfarm requires maize and soya beans, the cocoa processing factoryrequire cocoa, the toothpick factory requires organic bamboo and the list goes on,” he said.

Friday Nwagbara, Calabar