By Umar Salihu Adamu
Niger State is known for its Sugar Beets which can be found throughout the state, in large concentrations. As a proven alternative to the widely known sugar cane, it has huge industrial potential which can be harnessed through a planned cropping scheme to create more jobs for the teeming youth of the state while providing a sustainable source of industrial inputs to needing industries in the state through value addition.
This was disclosed by the Niger State Coordinator of Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Mr Yakubu Mohammed, alongside a consultant to the Council on sugar Dr. Mika Shuaibu, during a meeting with the Permanent Secretary of the Niger State Ministry of Industries, Trade, Investment, and Private Sector Development. The focus of the meeting was to deliberate on the immense economic development the sugar beets pilot plant project established by the RMRDC will have in the state. The sugar beet plantation is located at the Chanchanga in Minna.
Commenting on the economic viability of the project, Dr. Mika Shuaibu said that the main products from it, sugar and ethanol, are in high demand, and therefore have the potential to reduce their importation and save foreign exchange and at the same time create numerous jobs for indigenes of the state.
The Niger State Permanent Secretary Niger State Ministry for Industries, Investment, and Private Sector Development, Mallam Hamza Sarki Bello, acknowledged the immense economic advantages the project by the RMRDC will have, expressed enthusiasm about partnering with the Council to promote industrialization through raw materials sourcing and development in Niger State.
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The RMRDC Niger state coordinator, Mr. Y. Mohammed informed the Permanent Secretary that the Council is favourably disposed to partnering with the MTIPSD in other areas that will speed the state’s industrialization and economic transformation.
