Leader of the Chinese delegation Mrs Shuying Wang said that the country has the potential to be a global destination of quality cotton.
Sola Ojo, Kaduna
As part of efforts to improve the economy of Kaduna State, the El-Rufai administration has invited Chinese experts to look into the possibility of revamping the state’s textile industry.
READ ALSO: FG moves to revive textile industries
This development, according to the governor, was aimed at ensuring productive investment that can increase the economic fortunes of the state, coming at a time of shortfalls in federal allocations.
El-Rufai, who stated this while receiving the team at Sir Ibrahim Kashim House, said the need to revamp the industry became necessary because of the impact it would have on the value chain, improving living standards in the state, including that of cotton farmers.
Elsewhere, General Manager, Kaduna State Agricultural Development Agency, Sabi’u Sani Isyaku, said the state government invited the experts to see how to revive the cotton industry.
According to him, “we discovered that there are issues at different levels of production, beginning with the farmers. When they cannot produce the tons of cotton needed, the manufacturing industries will not have enough cotton to work with and that will lead to importation, which is quite expensive.
“So one of the things we are doing is to get high-return seedling. The more the farmers are able to produce, the better for everyone along the value chain.
“And for the textile companies to have a viable production, there is the need to have improved cotton seedling, and that is why we enjoin our farmers to use improved seedling and mechanization to improve their production from about 2 tons per hectare to about 5 tons per hectare. If we are able to produce, we will be exporting to other countries, including China.
Earlier, the leader of the Chinese delegation, Mrs Shuying Wang, said the team was in Nigeria to assist the country in the cotton value chain for an improved and sustainable economy, adding that the country has the potential to be a global destination of quality cotton.