Major General (Ret’d) Joe Singh was on Tuesday installed as chairman of the board of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) and heard a call from the Minister of Agriculture for the agency to be taken “to the next level”.
At the installation ceremony, Minister Zulfikar Mustapha urged the board to take the agency “to the next level”, according to a release from the Ministry of Agriculture. He charged the Board with developing programmes aligned with Government’s policies, as outlined in its 2020-2025 manifesto.
“Some of those policies are to create a supporting environment for other-crops development, promoting agriculture diversification with focus on coconut and horticulture. NAREI is also tasked with promoting an agro-energy industry; producing bioethanol through palm oil, cassava and corn. I recently had a discussion with the Chairman about palm oil in Region One and I’ve asked him to prepare a programme for the Ministry so that we can see the kind of funding necessary for that,” Mustapha said.
