| |
Cameroon's CDC to boost rubber cultivation |
| |
|
Posted 05 April 2008 @ 03:14 pm EET |
|
|
|
|
|
YAOUNDE (AP) - The Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), the West African country's main employer after the state, has launched a project to boost its rubber output by more than a third.
CDC General Manager Henry Njalla Quan said in a statement the company's main objective was to boost industrial agriculture, fight a rural exodus, reduce unemployment and alleviate poverty.
The 12 billion CFA franc plantation, known as the Matouke Rubber Estate, is located in the country's southwest. Around 3,000 hectares will be planted this year, followed by 1,500 ha each in 2011 and 2013.
The Cameroon Development Corporation is a state-run agro-industrial company created in 1947 and it currently has 17,131 ha of rubber under cultivation.
It has annual average production of some 22,700 tonnes of rubber mainly used for semi-finished products that are exported.
The high price of oil, the raw material for synthetic rubber, has led to an increase in demand for natural rubber.
|
|
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
|
