Cross river to dign biotech agreement for agriculture - Cross River State government will now emphasise more on the application of biotechnology for agricultural production to enable greater yields, Special Adviser to Governor Liyel Imoke on Inter-Governmental Relations and Liaison, Abuja, Barr Joe Edet, has said.
He said that the government is soon going to sign a five-year memorandum of understanding with North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, USA, to give impetus to the decision.
Edet said the MoU would provide the much needed technical support to drive key sectors which were critical to the accelerated development of the state, particularly in agriculture and biotechnology, science and technology, as well as engineering and ICT, adding that it would bring about scholarships to indigenes of the state.
He said the state government settled for the university because it was one of America's leading producers of African-American engineers with bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees, adding that it is also the nation's top producer of world class experts in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology.
Barr Edet said the MoU had 14 top benefits to Cross River state which include: training of extension workers in the area of sustainable agriculture and environmental protection, exchange programmes between staff of state MDAs and the university to learn international best practices in agriculture, working with the university's Centre for Excellence in Post-Harvest Technologies (CEPHT) to create crops with extended shelf life, access to funding for research in crops that are indigenous to Africa as well as sharing of useful agricultural research with the university in the area of biotechnology and the environment.
By Eyo Charles
Daily Trust/13/03/2013