Nasarawa State hosts sesame seed forum

The Nasarawa state government has hosted a one-day stakeholders forum on Sesame seed production, processing and projection. Addressing the forum which was held in collaboration with Dipton Investment Trade Limited, Governor Adamu said that the sesame seed had the potential of ameliorating the dangers posed by the country’s dependence on a petroleum based monolithic economy. The realization of such dangers, he said, was what compelled the state government to join the private sector to host the forum aimed at diversifying and broadening the general agricultural base.

Governor Adamu said that before the state government agreed to host the forum, a collaborative baseline survey was carried out by the Nasarawa state government and the National Cereals Research Institute which made it clear that sesame seed production in Nasarawa state had the potential of making the state become a major foreign exchange earner. It is in this respect that the government has released the sum of N5 million to the ministry of agriculture to purchase improved seeds for distribution to farmers.

Speaking earlier, the managing Director of Dipton Investments said their aim was to put Nasarawa state on the world map of sesame seed production. He said the seed had the potential of being processed into a raw material for the production soaps, industrial oils, medicines and food ingredients.