BY OYE AGUNBIADE
The Ondo state government will on Tuesday constitute its private driven cocoa council.
The senior special adviser to the Ondo state governor on Agric and Agribusiness, pastor Akin Olotu who made this known in a news conference in Akure said the council will combine all involved in the different value chain of cocoa to reposition the production of cocoa in the state.
Pastor Olotu while pointing out that the state government was also investing in tree crops which will earn the state more revenue noted that cocoa yield in the outgoing year totals 83,000 tones , a figure which remained the highest in the last twenty years.
Pastor Olotu further explained that the state’s Palm Oil Red Gold project would soon compete favorably with the Nation’s crude oil in terms of revenue.
According to Pastor Olotu, the Ondo state government had also commenced arrangement to engage small holder farmers and encroachers in the forest to regulate their activities and harness the economic values of the forest.
The senior special adviser while responding to journalists on farmers access to funding, enjoined the farmers to embrace cluster farming which would afford them credibility before banks and funding organizations.