1000 Women And Men In Jigawa To Receive Coconut Plant For Planting
Umar Akilu Majeri
The Jigawa State Coconut Producers Processors Marketers Association (NACOPPMAN) of Nigeria has pledged to assist 1000 Coco farmers in Jigawa state for the 2021 coconuts planting season.
Hajiya Hauwa Adamu who is a member of the Coconut Producers Processors Marketers Association, said this at the Coconut planting season event with the theme One family, three coconut trees with the aim of having coconut Sufficiency in Nigeria by the year 2027 with a view to boosting the Coco farming in the country
She said the parent body of this association is the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment, and that Coconut is a tropical plant that can grow anywhere under any condition.
Jigawa state happens to be among the states in the north where the cultivation of coconuts thrives. Coconut has become a major foreign exchange earner for countries that produce large quantities of nuts.
According to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development from the export of coconut oil and its derivatives. Research has shown that in 2013, 653 billion nuts were produced per annum and Nigeria currently produces 265,000 metric tons . This makes Nigeria the 18th producer of coconuts in the world.
The continuous dwindling income from oil in Nigeria informed the need to look at ways of earning foreign exchange from other sources, hence the need to boost the production of crops like coconut.
A barrel of coconut oil in the international market today stands at 12 dollars per barrel while a barrel of crude oil is oscillating between 6 to 7 dollars per barrel. It will interest you to know that 4 liters of palm oil are N5,000 while the 4 liters of coconut oils are N15,000. It is the capacity of coconut to be a hard foreign exchange earner that informed the decision of NACOPPMAN to coin the slogan of planting 10,000 hectares per state.
It is in this regard that the National President of NACOPPMAN, Mrs. Nna Okoji appealed to state governments to allocate 10,000 hectares of land for the cultivation of coconut so that by 2030 Nigeria can attain self-sufficiency in coconut production.
Coconut can be used for eco-friendly biofuel for cars.
There are ongoing researches on using coconut oil for treating cancer. And of course, the nutritional value of coconuts cannot be over-emphasized.5 The market for coconuts both locally and internationally is huge.
A bag of coconuts before COVID -19 was N8, 000 but now it is N25, 000. Coconut has over N400 billion dollar market worldwide.
Though the typical coconut tree takes five to seven years before yielding fruits, it is an investment that’s worthwhile because, once its starts, you will reap the benefit for 60-80 years. I have good news for those of you present here today.
“1 I am pleased to inform you that the species of coconut we are flagging off today, is a typical Malaysian dream dwarf coconut plant that produces more than a hundred fruits INA tree annually. And this variety produces fruit within three years.6 At this point, ” she stated.
