CR Eyes Banana Export Soon – Gov Ayade
BY UBON EKANEM, CALABAR – Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River says the state is working on exporting its ‘grand nain’ specie of banana to Europe as part of his administration’s strategies to engender economy turnaround and sustainable growth in the State.
According to him, the government remains excited that the proposed deep seaport project is continuously giving birth to bright ideas aimed at boosting the state’s economic fortunes, noting that; “You cannot build a seaport without planning on the outbound cargo,” which is the mistake made by other ports around the country.
Speaking when he paid an unscheduled visit to the 105-hectares banana plantation being cultivated in Odukpani Local Government area of the State, Governor Ayade said; “we expect that the agro-based industry which is the focus of President Buhari administration that I have keyed into, focuses on finding agricultural products that we will be exporting.”
The Governor stated that; “The zero oil road map is very clear to us that indeed in the next few years, oil will be a thing of the past, so for us to move into agriculture, we have to go into the most sophisticated technology, hence our partnership with San Carlos of Mexico.”
Professor Ayade said the first harvest is expected in May this year while the commercial export harvest will be in 2019, adding that; “if we must grow agriculture, we must make sure we take it away from subsistence farming, ensuring that those farming will not do so in agony, pain, hunger and melancholy, but follow the latest trend which is mechanized and technology driven.”
Giving insight on the farm’s sophistication level, Governor Ayade stated that with the cable train running all-round, the press of a button will have “bananas go through the plant, processed, packaged and exported to Germany and other countries.”
“It will provide the sufficient outbound cargo from our deep seaport, that way, we don’t have a situation where ships come into Nigeria and after discharging they have nothing to take back”, he said.
The Governor, who explained that the farm will provide huge employment opportunities to the teeming youth population in the state, said; “I am impressed with the number of young people that are working here, these are people that would have been on the street, over 1000 young people are engaged already. After Christmas, the next cultivation will start and that will bring another 1000 young men who will be doing the debushing and land clearing.”
Also speaking during the visit, the Farm’s Operations Manager, Cobus Schlcbusch and the Farm Manager, Martins Cruz, said the plantation will adopt a combination of Mexico and Costa Rica technology for its production.
They stated that the bananas will not only be supplied to local markets but also exported to other countries as a major revenue earner for Cross River state.
“The banana bunches will be between 35 and 40 kg, even as personnel working in the plant will be trained to meet the requirements expected of perfect and packaged products for export”, the two officials said
They also explained that the parental seedlings from Mexico and Costa Rica are unique and capable of resisting crop related diseases in the country.
