Ondo State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Ademola Olorunfemi, has said that the current administration in the state had perfected arrangements to establish three ethanol plants in the state.
Olorunfemi, who stated this in an interview with journalists in his office, added that the state had also proposed the establishment of sugarcane plantations in each of the state’s three senatorial districts.
The commissioner explained that the three ethanol plants would process the sugarcane to raw materials for industrial and pharmaceutical usage.
He said the projects were aimed at maximising the potential of the vast agricultural resources of the state in employment generation and industrialisation.
He said government would acquire suitable lands on which sugarcane farmers would be clustered for maximum usage of inputs assistance from the state.
He also said that the establishment of the three plantations, would not only boost the economy of the state, but would also generate employment.
He said: “Government is proposing the establishment of these plants with an eye on participating in the emerging global fuel economy that is gradually moving away from conventional use of petroleum products as the dominant energy source.
“With ethanol already a constituent of automobile fuels, a new frontier of economic growth would soon be opened for the state through the initiative.”
He said the development would facilitate the emergence of industries and have a generally positive effect on the local economy.
