Ekiti set to raise 70m cocoa seedlings for farmers
The Ekiti State Government says it has concluded arrangements to establish an additional five hectares of Cocoa Clonal Gardens across the state. The State Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Kehinde Odebunmi, said this at a news conference in Ado-Ekiti. He said that the gardens would be used to cultivate 70 million improved cocoa seedlings for farmers in the state in the next 10 years. He said the move was part of the government’s renewed efforts to boost cocoa production in the state. Odebunmi said that using the current market price of cocoa as an index, cocoa farmers in the state would be able to earn about N18.9 billion within the 10-year period. He added that the state government was expected to earn about N135 million from cocoa grading and other sundry fees. He said that the new gardens would complement the five-hectare garden that was established last year at Ado, Iye and Eporo Ekiti as well as the old three-hectare plot at Eyio and Ado- Ekiti s...