By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Nigeria exported N817.35 billion agricultural produce in the second quarter of 2021 (Q2 2021), surpassing N652.08 billion imports to highlight the potential of agriculture in the diversification of the economy from dependence on oil.
“The total value of trade in agricultural goods in Q2 2021 stood at N817.35 billion. The export component of this trade totaled N165.27 billion while the import was valued at N652.08 billion,” says National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data.
Top most exports were good fermented cocoa beans exported to
· The Netherlands – N16.48 billion
· Malaysia – N9.32 billion
· The United States – N8.41 billion
Cashew nuts in shell were exported to
· Vietnam – N33.54 billion
· India – N3.24 billion
The data, reported by The Nation, shows other major exports to include sesamum seeds exported to Japan (N7.28 billion) and China N7.14 billion as well as coconut (N9.94 billion).
Durum wheat was imported from the United States (N70.37 billion), Canada (N54.48 billion), Argentina (N35.04 billion), Lithuania (N32.24 billion), and Latvia (N25.91 billion).
“The next product imported under this category was blue whitings from Russia (N27.23 billion) and The Netherlands (N13.41billion).
“During the quarter, mackerel worth N9.61 billion was imported from The Netherlands and N4.91 billion from Japan,” the NBS said.
“There was also importation of malt, not roasted, from Belgium (N21.42 billion) and France (N4.48 billion). Other major importation was crude palm oil from Singapore in the value worth N15.09 billion and India (N11.68 billion).”
Plasters of calcined gypsum was imported from Turkey (N8.35 billion) and Egypt (N3.69 billion); gypsum anhydrite from Spain (N7.78 billion) and Turkey (N5.22 billion).
Other imports included
· Other salt (including crude salt) from Brazil (N6.04 billion)
· Salt for human consumption (including table salt) from Namibia (N2.52 billion)
· Granite cut into a square or rectangular shape from China (N2.25billion)