Following the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR) and Luscei Investment Limited, palm oil production in Nigeria could expand quickly.
The action is anticipated to increase palm oil production, allowing the nation to reach its goals.
According to the agreement, NIFOR would provide free planting seeds for a 40-hectare field while Luscei Investment would serve as the Institute’s Extension Works Seed (EWS) fields’ host.
According to a statement made available after the MoU, the private business would handle the planting, upkeep, and harvesting of the field under the guidance of NIFOR expert staff.
Dr. Celestine Ikuenobe, the institute’s executive director, bemoaned the recent deterioration in the performance of NIFOR. According to him, the primary mission of NIFOR must be reinvented using best practices from new alliances.
Ikuenobe asserted that NIFOR remained the top palm oil research organization in Africa on behalf of Dr. Isona Gold, Director of the Research, Technology, and Product Development Department.
He said: “In the past, it was a taboo to be seen around plant breeding and agronomy fields but over time the scientific culture of the institute has been eroded, resulting in the disregard for science.
“In some cases, staff of the institute do not understand our experimental fields and see the fields as places for theft, with little knowledge of the institute’s cash flow potential and the negative impact of such activities on the relevance of NIFOR in the global scientific community. The consequence is that many years later, we do not have reliable yield records from our fields to market our products.
“This is where our competitors have an advantage, as they can control such occurrences in their locations. In addressing this challenge, the Institute is seeking collaboration with private organisations and adopting stricter measures to curb sabotage within its system, hence our partnership with Luscei.”
Oluseyi Adeleke, the director of Luscei Investment, stated that the collaboration with NIFOR has increased the farm’s output and that the deal will endure for 20 years.
“With our collaboration, we had better insight into our land acquisition, as we received expert guidance from NIFOR during the process. Whilst there are challenges, we have been able to overcome them due to the resilience in the quality of materials we receive and how they can survive harsh weather conditions. As a result of this, major oil producers came to check our produce and today they off-take from our farms.
“We are going to host their research outpost on our farm, which spans about 40 hectares and in the process, will learn from the researchers and replicate in the investment area of the farm. In the mid to long term, we hope to become more commercially viable, as we anticipate the next 20 years of this partnership.”
