Stakeholders in the oil palm sub-sector of Abia state have called for the revamping of the Ulonna North and South farm settlement by replacing the old oil palm grooves in the settlement with the improved and high yielding tenera specie acquired by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.
Speaking to Correspondent Godwin Ike in Umuahia, the State Chairman, Oil palm Growers Association of Nigeria, Chief Roland Alozie, informed that the oil palm sub-sector if well harnessed has the potential of creating jobs for over 70% for Abia youths and raise the revenue profile of the state.
Chief Alozie who lauded the administration of Governor Ikpeazu for keying the state into the oil palm Belt development program of Central Bank of Nigeria, noted that members of the Association who are owners of Small clusters can donate forty thousand hectares out of the sixty thousand hectares of land promised by the Governor for the takeoff of the program in the state.
Also baring his mind on the program, the state Vice Chairman of the association, Prince Agwu Udensi, made case for the installation of oil palm processing plants across the three senatorial zones of the state and identified boundary disputes, poor road network as some of the challenges facing oil palm farmers in the state.