Posted by Mr. Usen Umoh, national vice chairman of the Natural Rubber Producers, Processors, and Marketing Association of Nigeria (NARPPMAN), has urged Nigerians, and rubber farmers in particular, to replant their deteriorating plantations. The future of Nigeria’s economy will depend on the success of this sector.
Umoh told BANKPAWA in Calabar that natural rubber may once again be the country’s primary economic driver due to rising price indices.
He disclosed that farmers can earn significant additional income from carbon emissions from rubber plantations, which he used to persuade a greater number of farmers to regenerate or establish new rubber farms.
He said that carbon dioxide obtained from rubber was the purest.
He revealed that multinational corporations spend exorbitant sums of money to offset the carbon emissions caused by rubber trees.
Knowledge is power, and when it comes to carbon credits marketing from rubber, more is better for everyone involved.
Carbon marketing presents enormous potential. Since rubber is essential to the future of Nigeria’s economy, the country should invest in carbon credits, decrease its dependency on oil, and promote rubber plantation.
Given that rubber plants have a lengthy gestation time (a few years), Umoh claims that many farmers in other countries generate extremely high profits from carbon credits.
He was pleased that some rubber producers in the country had figured this out and were now earning millions of dollars abroad.
The rubber specialist also suggested that rubber producers engage in a practice he referred to as “intercropping” in order to increase their income.
For example, rubber trees can serve as “umbrella covers” for such low-lying crops, allowing farmers to plant other crops or vegetables in the spaces between them. So even if farmers have to wait for rubber, they can still make money.
While waiting for the rubber gestation time, “inter cropping can provide alternative source of income,” he said.
Because rubber takes so long to produce, he pleaded with banks and other financial organizations not to overlook them.