This move, according the Director of Produce, Enugu State Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Hyacinth Ozor, is geared towards re-positioning Enugu as a leader in cashew nuts production in the country.
Ozor made this disclosure while speaking to journalists in Enugu on Monday.
He said that the new development will see enhancement in the qualities of the products for both local and international markets.
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Ozor further noted that state government had set up an aggregation centre where cashew nuts would be “gathered, graded, processed and sold for farmers.
“This makes cashew nuts lose their export values due to poor management. The state government now decided that, henceforth, in all cashew activities, best practices must be adopted. Cashew nuts must be sun-dried immediately after harvesting and on no accounts would they be plucked. The cashew should be allowed to mature, ripe and fall, then harvested,’’ Ozor said.
“Once a farmer is registered, he or she will have the licence to buy and sell because cashew would no longer be allowed to sell in open market,” he said.