The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, says Nigeria will regain its position as a world leading groundnuts producer.
He said this in a keynote address at the 40th anniversary of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Patancheru, India, on Tuesday.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by Alhaji Salisu Dambatta, the Ministry's Director of Information, in Abuja on Tuesday, and made available to newsmen.
It stated that Nigeria had also signed a three-year collaboration agreement on the rehabilitation and expansion of groundnuts production with the institute.
This agreement, it said, was one of the first major steps in restoring Nigeria's status as a dominant producer and exporter of groundnuts in the world.
According to Adesina, groundnuts remains an important crop for resource-poor farmers in Nigeria.
He expressed optimism that the partnership programme between ICRISAT and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, would bring back Nigeria's lost glory as a leading groundnuts producer.
