By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Audu Ogbeh, disclosed on Thursday that Nigeria earned N30 billion from exporting agricultural products in the first quarter of this year, adding that agricultural export during the period had increased by 82 percent.
Mr Ogbeh made this known as the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting held yesterday, which was chaired by the Vice President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo.
According to the Minister, commodities exported during the period were sesame seeds, soya beans, frozen shrimp, cashew nuts, crude palm kernel.
He said government was making efforts to intensify the exportation of coffee, cashew nuts, rubber, kolanuts, palm kennel, coconuts, cotton, ogbonno, ginger, timber, shrimps among others.
Giving a breakdown of the export earnings from various crops, the Mr Ogbeh said Nigeria exported sesame seeds worth N3.7 billion to Turkey; N1.6 billion to China; and N1.6 billion to India.
Also, soya beans valued at N3.4 billion was exported to Russia; and N1.2 billion to Greece, while frozen shrimp worth N2.2 billion went to the Netherlands.
In addition, the country exported cashew nuts worth N1.8 billion to Vietnam, crude palm kernel oil valued at N1.2 billion was taken to the Netherlands.
Adedapo Adesanya