Lifecom Global set to partner Unilorin on guava plantation

Lifecom Global Services, an agribusiness consult has indicated its readiness to partner with the Federal University of Ilorin on the establishment of a guava plantation in Ilorin, Kwara state.

A team led by S. A. Ibiyemi, department of Chemistry, University of Ilorin, revealed the plan during a courtesy visit to Sulyman Age Abdulkareem , vice-chancellor and professor of Engineering, Unilorin.

Ibiyemi said the collaboration between the University and the organisation would give the institution the opportunity to make farming attractive to students and potentials in crop production.

The professor stated that once the students see the prospects in the guava cultivation, it would regenerate their entrepreneurial skills and development initiative in farming.

While describing it as a product of research, the professor of chemistry said that the institution would conduct research in improving the performance of the nutrients in the fruit, just as he explained that it will provide an opportunity for research and development in the institution, which post graduate students, can take advantage of.

“This might generate money for the agricultural students during their holidays. The students may also decide to go into commercial farming and make money apart from academic knowledge,” Ibiyemi said.

He urged the University administration to give them a chance to come up with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the partnership between the organisation and the University, hoping that the higher institution would not have any cause to regret.

In a presentation, Eniola Biodun, CEO and MD, Lifecome Global Services, said that the firm discovered that there seems to be no plantation of the particular guava variety in the country yet.

While pointing out that each fruit of the guava variety could weigh between 200-600g and would meet both local and international demand, Eniola explained that at full-grown single tree of jumbo guava could produce 24-60kg of fruits.

According to Biodun, apart from the mutual financial benefits, the company official expressed the belief that students from the Faculty of Agriculture, especially those in the farm practical training program could learn and gain vital knowledge from the crop production.

He described guava as the best source of vitamin C, as the fruit contains 228mg of vitamin C that is equal to 338 percent of RDA needed in the daily diet.

In his response, the vice-chancellor said that coming of the organisations delegates to the University was timely because the institution in the past few months has been looking into making judicious use of the land mass that it is endowed with.

He said that the school would approve the proposal even before the MoU document is ready, adding that his administration is glad to do that owing to its enormous benefits to the students and institution.

 

SIKIRAT SHEHU, Ilorin