UNICAL to Establish 10-Hectare Oil Palm Plantation – VC

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. Zanna Akpagu, has made it known that the University is planning to establish a 10-hectre oil palm plantation to increase its internally generated revenue (IGR).

New Telegraph reports that he said following the drop in allocation to tertiary institutions in the country, it was necessary that universities look inward to ensure that academic programmes and researches were carried out to sustain public trust.

Speaking during an interview in his office, Akpagu said he has put in place a mechanism to ensure that academic programmes of the university was not hampered by lack of funds and one way of doing this was to take to farming. “Indeed, funding holds the key in the administration of any organisation

Institutions of higher learning are not left out. When the funds are not available or are grossly inadequate, the best of dreams and programmes will not be realised. “The things that this administration intends to achieve are enormous. Without sufficient funds, it will not be possible.

But we are going to resort to our agriculture potentials to beef up our sources of internal revenue,” he said. According to him, “another fund raising initiative is the development of new palm plantation. The Faculty of Agriculture has already submitted proposals for the establishment of a 10-hectre oil palm plantation of high yielding Malaysian species.

The faculty is also to rehabilitate the dilapidated palm oil mill to utilise fruits from the existing, but abandoned plantation. “To further increase our IGR, defunct UNICAL Commercial/Demonstration Farm is receiving attention.”

Source: New Telegraph