Cotton farmers in the country have been called upon to rise up to the challenge of reviving the farming of cotton.
Nasarawa State Governor, Umaru Tanko Al-makura, threw the challenge in Lafia, yesterday, in a goodwill message at the capacity building and meeting of stakeholders on cotton production, organized by National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN), in conjunction with the Bank of Industry (BOI) for the North central zone.
The governor, who spoke through the state commissioner of Agriculture, Alhaji Tijjani Ahmed, said reviving cotton farming had become necessary because of the key role it had played in the country before the? discovery of crude oil and the need to diversify the country’s economy.
Earlier in a welcome address, the national chairman of NACOTAN, Alhaji Hamman Kwajafa, who lamented the decline in cotton production in Nigeria, called on the stake- holders to brainstorm on the way out for local content production of the commodity.