Ogun to bring over 10,000 ha under cotton cultivation

06 Sep '16

2 min read

More than 10,000 hectares of land will come under cotton cultivation in Nigeria's Ogun state, as the provincial government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ArewaCotton Limited, an indigenous natural fibre company. The MoU has been signed with an aim to focus on production, processing as well as marketing of cotton in the state.

The memorandum states that cotton farmers in Ogun would mandatorily sell their produce to ArewaCotton, Nigerian media reports said. As a result, investment opportunities of billions of naira are expected to be created. A ginnery will also be established in the state for faster buying of cotton.

The Ogun government has agreed to give 10,000 hectares of land to the company for cotton cultivation in the beginning. As soon as cultivation starts on this land, ArewaCotton can apply to get more land to fulfill its hopes of ultimately having 20,000 hectares of land under cultivation.

Ogun is now in a position to grow, spin and weave cotton as well as produce textiles for home furnishings, clothing and other uses. Thus, it can now exploit the complete cotton value chain and generate over tens of thousands of job opportunities. This partnership will also be helpful in boosting productivity and increasing foreign exchange earnings for cotton farmers in the state.

Ibikunle Amosun, the state governor and professor Michael Olayiwole, the chairman of ArewaCotton signed the MoU recently at the Governor's Office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta. (KD)

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