The Cross River Government says it has concluded plans to acquire 250 hectares of land for banana cultivation in Odukpani Local Government Area of the state.
The Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Professor Anthony Eneji, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar.
Eneji spoke on the sidelines of a consultative meeting with the Okoyong Council of Chiefs over the land for the proposed banana project. The commissioner said that the pilot commercial banana cultivation was part of the state government’s plan to diversify its economy.
He said: “government is determined to take agriculture to a sustained commercial level capable of replacing oil as a major source of revenue”.
He said that the communities around the proposed plantation will benefit from the project because it will offer employment opportunities to them.
The commissioner said that the communities will also benefit from the good road network and other social amenities that the plantation will attract.
He noted that the project was a Public-Private Partnership with San Carlos Group, a Mexican company. He further said that under the partnership, 3,000 hectares of banana will be cultivated in the state in the long run, adding that the project will be extended to Boki Local Government Area.
