By Nabilu Balarabe
The Hibiscus Farmers Association in Jigawa on Thursday said its members earned N3.6 billion from exportation of hibiscus in 2018.
The association’s Chairman, Alhaji Faruq Abdallah, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Hadejia, Jigawa.
He said that 15,000 tonnes of hibiscus were produced in the state within the period under review, saying that each tonne was sold at N240, 000.
Abdallah listed the major hibiscus-producing areas in the state to include: Gagarawa, Kaugama, Mallammadori, Gumel and Birniwa Local Government Areas.
The chairman said there were over 15,000 hibiscus farmers in the state, noting that they sold the commodity to over 30 Kano-based companies.
“These companies, through their agents, normally buy hibiscus produced by our members and stocked in major markets of Gujungu, Hadejia, Mallammadori, Maigatari, Garungabas and Sara.
“They export about 98 per cent of the total hibiscus we produced to Mexico, China, India and Sudan, where the commodity is used in manufacturing beverages, medicine, hair cream, among others,’’ he said.
Abdallah commended Gov. Muhammad Badaru for his introduction of Clusters Support Programme.
“Let me tell you without any contradiction that Jigawa cultivates 90 per cent of the total hibiscus produced in the country.
“This feat would not have been achieved without the various farm inputs distributed to our members under this programme.
“In addition, the governor recently went to Mexico to negotiate, on our behalf, the upward review of hibiscus price per kilogramme to N500 from the current N300.’’ he said.
He appealed to the Federal Government to expand the Cluster Programme to enable the farmers to increase hibiscus production.
Abdallah said: “If the Federal Government can expand the clusters support from 50 hectares to between 80 and 100 hectares in every council, l assure you we can jerk up our production capacity to about 30,000 tonnes annually.’’
He appealed to the state government to provide more inputs for farmers so as to encourage more people to grow hibiscus. (NAN)
