From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
The Plantation Palm Owners Forum of Nigeria (POFON) has lamented the imposition of produce tax and levy on certain agricultural commodities by state governments, saying that the tax is antithetical to food security in the country.
Emmanuel Ibru, the National Chairman of the Forum, stated this while speaking with newsmen shortly after the group’s meeting in Benin City.
Ibru, who is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aden River Estates Limited, an agro-industrial subsidiary of Ibru Organisation averred that the imposition of produce tax on farmers would negatively affect food prices, especially palm oil; in the Nigeria market.
He advised that instead of produce tax, governments across the country should provide an enabling environment for farmers to thrive by assisting them with easy access to land, inputs and security to enable them to increase their production.
He noted that Nigeria, which is the highest producer of palm oil in Africa and the 5th in the world needs to increase its cultivation to about 500,000 hectares for it to meet the local needs and also become more efficient in production.
POFON chairman added that Nigeria needs to cultivate about one million hectares of oil palm urgently, for competitiveness in the international market,
He said the one million hectares is a far cry from meeting up with what Indonesia and Malaysia are producing.
Ibru opined that imposition of produce tax by governments would amount to multiple taxations, as farmers and plantation owners are already paying other taxes such as income land use taxes to state governments among others.
While assuring that POFON is not against the payment of taxes by its members, he assured that members are ready to pay legal and fairer friendly taxes levied by any State government.
Ibru who noted that investing in oil palm plantation required patience and also capital intensive, further, decried the multiple taxations imposed on agricultural investors by governments.
He averred that if the issue of the multiple taxations is not given the needed attention, it might undermine the achievement of low and stable prices of the red cooking oil and its by-products in the country.
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