HOUSE of Representatives Committee on Agricultural Research Institutes, Colleges of Agriculture and Allied Institutions in conjunction with the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), Ibadan, have organised a training for farmers in Oyo state on kenaf and jute value chain.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune shortly after the opening ceremony of the training which held on the premises of IAR&T, the Director of the institute, Professor James Adediran, who was represented on the occasion by his deputy Dr Jelili Saka, while describing kenaf as a very important crop because of its numerous potentials in vast utilisation said the not less than sixty participants would after the training have vast knowledge on the techniques of kenaf production and utilisation.
“As a fibre crop, it produces fibre that are used for the production of jute bags. And we would all remember that one of the ERGP target is for import substitution. Nigeria spends billions of dollars annually to import produce bags and we believe that from the kenaf fibre we can produce jute bags. And by so doing, we would be saving the country the enormous foreign earnings that are being spent on the importation of these jute bags.”
He further informed that virtually everything about kenaf is useful. “The seeds is very rich in low cholestrol oil which also shows that it has a very high nutritional value. Then after the extraction of the oil, the cake that is left is of high value as ingredients for livestock feeds. The leaves are also very nutritious for livestock feeds as well.”
Also speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, a scientist at the IAR&T, Dr Dotun Ogunniyan, hinted that participants would be given starter pack in terms of money and the institute would monitor them for at least two years to ensure they make judicious use of the funds made available to them.