Enugu pineapples ‘going to Europe’ this year

Pineapples grown on state-owned Enugu-San Carlos 150-hectare pineapple farm will begin to make their way to Europe for export this year, state commissioner for information, Chuks Ugwoke, has said.

The 150-hectare farm is a joint venture (JV) owned by the Enugu state government and Mexican farming conglomerate, San Carlos.

Approved by the Enugu state government in 2012, the JV was established for commercial production of pineapple for both local consumption and export.

Speaking Monday’s state executive council meeting presided over by Governor Sullivan Chime at the Government House, Ugwoke said the government was considering expanding its agricultural business on the farm, as the council had approved the sum of N880.9m for the introduction of banana and livestock, particularly cattle.

Other investments include the sum of N1.1bn for the completion of construction work on two major inter-local government rural roads in parts of the state and about N48.8m for the implementation of the health commodity supply in Awgu, Enugu East, Igbo-Eze South, Nkanu West, Nsukka and Udi local government areas.

To encourage agribusiness in the state, Ugwoke said the state council directed that a bill should be drafted for a law to upgrade the State College of Agriculture and Agro-Entrepreneurship in Iwollo Oghe, as well as the Enugu State Polytechnic.

If the bill is passed into law by the state house of assembly, it will reduce the bottlenecks of seeking admission into higher institution of learning and also facilitate investment from other parts of the country.