<p></p><p>The Managing Director, Universal Quest Nigeria, Anga Sotonye, who doubles as a cashew export expert, has said that Cashew could contribute millions of naira to the economy. Speaking at an export business luncheon on Nigeria’s multibillion cashew industries in Lagos recently, He urged the Federal Government to include cashew seedlings in the Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) as part of the inputs farmers can get from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development He stressed the need for Nigeria to consolidate its place in the cashew world by increasing its production and processing. <br></p> <p>“Cashew is our heritage and one crop for which Nigeria has comparative advantage, and this explains why we have to be innovative and deliberately stimulate continuous improvements and drive growth in the cashew sector.” He explained that cashew from its humble beginning, has now grown to become the winner crop that is supporting over 300,000 families in Nigeria covering the North, West, East and South of the country.</p> <p>Anga noted that cashew would contribute N42 billion to Nigeria’s economy in 2015 ,but requires N50 billion to enable it boost production, processing and marketing and, in return, generate turnover of N1 trillion in 10 years. <br></p> <p>“As we allocate more land for cashew cultivation, our major focus should be to increase our national average in terms of yield per hectare, which is around 400 – 600 kilogrammes per hectare, to at least 1,000 -1,500 kilogrammes per hectare, and this can be achieved through the establishment of a national cashew seed programme; improving farm level productivity by planting improved disease resistant high yielding cashew seedlings; and rejuvenation of old cashew farms and capacity building for cashew farmers,” he said.<br></p><p></p>