The Akwa Ibom State Government has commenced the distribution of 600,000 cocoa seedlings to farmers for this year’s planting season.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Offiong Offor, who performed the distribution of the seedlings to farmers in Ini Local Government Area on Tuesday explained that the local government was the cocoa belt of the state, abundantly blessed by God with natural resources and land to grow many crops, as the food basket of the state.
“We have carried out the distribution of inputs since the beginning of the planting season for different crops such as cassava, maize, vegetables, oil palm, and today is for cocoa.
“Other crops will also be shared in the near future.
“This is done to show that food is the most important need of man, and it is of essence to support farmers to produce food to raise the food sufficiency level in the state,” Offor said.
The commissioner said that the essence of distributing the seedlings was to increase cocoa production and ensure that the state is ranked as one of the top cocoa producers in Nigeria.
Earlier, the State Chairman, the Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria, Mr Ekikere Bassey, assured the government of their readiness to harness the cocoa seedlings distributed to the group properly.
He said that the association would ensure that the seedlings got to all farmers in the state.
Bassey commended the state government for the gesture, adding that the state governor had been a model to the farmers in planting and cultivating cash crops.
