Akwa Ibom State government has embarked on an aggressive expansion programme for the cultivation of coconut plantations across the state to encourage massive production of coconut to meet up with the daily requirements of over 300,000 seeds needed by the state coconut oil factory.
The state commissioner for agriculture, Dr Glory Edet, stated this Friday at the state secretariat field during the distribution of coconut seedlings and cassava cuttings to pilot public secondary schools in the state.
Dr Edet said in her address that the Ministry of Agriculture is poised to encourage individuals, organizations, institutions and corporate bodies to contribute to the collaborative effort of massive production of coconut and its value chains towards production lines of the coconut oil factory in the state.
The commissioner thanked His Excellency, Mr Udom Emmanuel, for giving agricultural sector its rightful position in the development of the state and called on people to avail themselves of the various opportunities in agriculture made possible by the governor to improve their standard of living.
She appealed to the school principals and agriculture teachers to ensure that students in their schools are engaged in practical agriculture, noting that Akwa Ibom people have no reason to complain of food scarcity because God has blessed the state with fertile soil that favours all-year-round cultivation of crops.
The commissioner explained that the distribution of coconut seedlings and other farm inputs to public secondary schools are in phases and would certainly go round all the schools in the state.
She also disclosed plans by the ministry to closely monitor the cultivation of the coconut and plans to reward outstanding schools and agriculture teachers while calling on those that would have challenges to contact agriculture extension officers in their respective LGAs and professional staff from State Ministry of Agriculture for assistance.
Also speaking, Dr Ekaette Ebong Okon, chairman, State Secondary Schools Board, applauded the distribution of the coconut seedlings and cassava cuttings by the State Ministry of Agriculture.
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Dr Okon charged the benefiting schools to make good use of the free distribution of farm inputs for the intended purpose, explaining that the State Secondary Education Board would continuously embark on inspection of the cultivation to ascertain some levels of effectiveness.
Dr John Markson, permanent secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, said the distribution of coconut seedlings and cassava cuttings to pilot secondary schools was to encourage massive production of coconut to meet the requirements of the daily needs of the state coconut oil factory production lines.
Also, Mrs Helen Ante, permanent secretary, Ministry of Education, called on the benefiting schools to make sure that they cultivate the farm inputs for the purpose they are meant for without diverting them for personal use.
Earlier, during the technical sessions, Mr Emmanuel Akpan, state director of agriculture and Mr Etima Ntuen, coordinator, Community Plantation Development Programme, disclosed the latest techniques in the planting of coconut seedlings and cassava cuttings for a greater harvest.
In their separate messages, Dr Uko Uyobong, state coordinator of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Prince Bassey Inwang applauded Dr Glory Edet for her resourcefulness and effective handling of the agricultural sector in the state.
Responding on behalf of other beneficiaries, the principal of Secondary School, Etoi, Uyo, Mr James Caleb, appreciated Governor Udom Emmanuel for his avowed commitment in the repositioning of the agricultural sector in the state and promised to use the farm inputs accordingly.
The high point of the occasion was the distribution of coconut seedlings and cassava cuttings by Dr Glory Edet to the first batch of the benefitting public secondary schools in the state.
