Forex

Hopes of higher foreign exchange earnings from horticulture and spice production have been raised, with plans by experts to increase yields and brighten foreign market opportunities.

The Executive Director of the National Institute of Horticultural Research, Dr. Ademola Idowu, who gave the hint in Ibadan on Wednesday, said Nigeria would earn good foreign exchange when the pact between the research institute and the Bells University of Technology, Ota, on spice research and development begins to yield results.

Idowu, who stated this in an interview with our correspondent, said NIHORT signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bellstech in November 2008 to collaborate on research findings.

He said NIHORT had earlier invited an expert in horticulture from the University of Agricultural Science in Bangalore, India, Prof. Mariappa Vasundhara, for a lecture, where it was revealed that Nigeria could make fortunes from spice development.