Nigeria's commerce minister said Friday that the west African country has realized a sum of 150 million dollars from the export of sesame seed during the 2004- 2005 cropping season.

Idris Waziri told reporters in Abuja, Nigeria's capital that the country's export market was increasing with the entrance of China and South Korea, in addition to Japan and Europe, according to the official News Agency of Nigeria.

Some 150 tons have already been exported to China with another consignment of 500 tons ready for shipment, he said.

The minister said that sesame seed export now ranked second after cocoa in terms of value and volume of crop export, adding that with the steady increase in production over the next three years, it would overtake cocoa.

Sheriff Balogun, president of the National Sesame Association of Nigeria, estimated that about 750 million dollars would be realized from sesame seed export within the next three to four years.

He said the association was intensifying efforts to raise the volume of export to about 1 million tons.

Nigeria is the second largest producer of the crop in Africa after Sudan and ranks seventh in the world.

Source: Xinhua