Lack of policy, research support hampering Nigeria's oil palm sector : experts

Instability in past government policies on agriculture and the neglect of the sector have contributed to the underdevelopment of Nigeria's agriculture, as evident in oil-palm farming.

Research is also an important tool of any nation's agricultural development. Many of the so called developed countries of the world today realised this early and gave proper attention to research funding. Today, we are running to them for aid and assistance, whereas they are not better than us in terms of expertise. No matter the developmental programme of any country, if adequate attention is not given to research, such a nation will just be moving round in circles.

Modupe Olatunbosun, a renowned professor of agriculture, said despite several clarion calls by successive governments to give more attention to the agricultural sector, it is only the regime of President Obasanjo that has responded and shown genuine and serious interest in the sector. He observed that research and stability of policies and programmes as well as continuity are some of the things that are needed to get us out of the woods.

Obasanjo, Olatunbosun said, has initiated several effective strategies to revive some crops, including cassava , hence the country's on-going cassava revolution. He however appealed to the three tiers of government to give more attention to agricultural research institutes, many of which he noted are in pitiable conditions. "Many of our research institutes are still grossly under funded. Research institutes like IITA (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture) have really helped the country to display its great potential in large-scale production of crops like cassava and cocoa. The on-going cassava revolution is now helping our nation as many developed nations of the world now want to partner with us in the exportation of this golden crop," said Olatunbosun.

He continued, "We are now world number one in cassava production. This is good, but we need the same aggressiveness at resuscitating other crops like cocoa, soya-beans, oil-palm, groundnut, cotton, etc, which used to be the pride of the nation in the years past. If serious and genuine interest is shown towards their cultivation, we can produce them on a large-scale."

Speaking on the problems of oil palm production, Prof. Olatunbosun said the way Nigeria lost the leadership position in the 1960s and '70s was heart rending. "We lost the oil-palm race due to the neglect of the agricultural sector, particularly the low interest in research," he said. "Research into all these crops which would have been our other sources of income apart from crude oil was just not there, and research is the pivot upon which the growth and development of any nation hinges. Oil-palm used to be the pride of our country in the '60s and '70s. In fact, the country can boast of many things which our past leaders achieved with the money generated from its export. But tell me what is our position on the international oil palm production chart today? Honestly it is very painful," he lamented.

"Malaysia is a country that was here some years back to collect oil-palm seedlings from us and we even taught them how to plant and nurture the cash crop, but today, the country is now ahead of us. Go to Malaysia today, you will see the wonders they are doing with oil palm. It has really helped to solve their problems of unemployment and poverty and it is also a source of income for many of their citizens," he said. In Malaysia today, part of the fortune is the "green diesel" extracted from oil palm, which is contributing to their industrial growth.

Olatunbosun said Nigeria should not be too excited about the cassava revolution as many countries of the world , including Thailand and some in Africa, are seriously understudying Nigeria to take over as the number one cassava producer in the world.

"Senegal has been coming to Nigeria countless times to pack chartered cargo aircraft with our cassava stems. What do you think such a country is trying to do? Malaysia did the same thing on oil palm and see the result today. So I'm appealing to our government to encourage more people to also join in the oil palm resuscitation. Let us greatly fund our research institutes. Thailand is also a force to reckon with in cassava production worldwide. They have the aim of overtaking us from that leadership position and other countries also have the same ambition and goal," Olatunbosun said.

Dr. Raji, an agricultural engineer at the prestigious University of Ibadan, Ibadan, said, "Let us develop other valuable, exportable crops like cocoa, cotton, oil palm, soy bean, etc. Let us fund the research institutes so that their results will be practically worked upon and the crops developed made to serve as a source of revenue for the country apart from oil, bitumen etc. But above all, we should be conscious of what Malaysia did to us on oil palm. Senegal, Thailand and others may soon overtake us if we slack. Let us encourage our farmers and local fabricators to develop the necessary equipment," he advised.

The Tribune