Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
As part of efforts to resuscitate the Cotton Textile and Garment (CTG) sector, the National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN) has disclosed that it will partner with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in line with directives of the Federal Government.
According to President of NACOTAN, Mr Anibe Achimugu, on Friday in Abuja, the association was excited over the FG’s commitment in ensuring that the CTG sector was revitalised.
He said that the contribution of the sector was significant to the growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), hence, the association’s plan to introduce technology that would assist it in data variable generation.
“We also want to ensure that farmers are properly trained about climate change, adoption of new varieties of planting seeds and to learn the appropriate use of recommended inputs,’’ Mr Achimugu said.
Speaking further, he said that the one of the association’s plans is to ensure that its extension service system was effective enough to support the farmers at any point in time.
He added that the association would encourage women and youths to go into cotton farming to increase their capacity base from the current 151,000 cotton farmers to 300,000 without reducing the quality of the commodity.
“We will also be introducing the cotton harvest bag which is the first right thing in cotton production in Nigeria.
“This is because one of the challenges our cotton has been having is the negative perception of quality, which has to do with polypropylene contamination.
“But with the cotton harvest bags, we shall significantly eliminate such challenge, and also work closely with the entire players in the value chain,” he said.
The NACOTAN boss said that the players included the ginners and textile manufacturers, saying “working closely with them shall ensure sustainability for cotton production in Nigeria.”
He commended the recently introduced cotton BG 2567 and BG 25271 cotton varieties by the Federal Government, which he acknowledged would boost productivity in the sector.
“I believe in the wet season of this 2020, we’re hopeful that about 10,000 farmers will benefit from the two new varieties, which will subsequently increase to reach a wider number of farmers.
“We have in this country the capacity to produce seeds and make them available to farmers which is great, but that is what is lacking at the moment.
“If not for this intervention, we would have been experiencing poor seeds,” he added.
