FG to procure 200 rice mills for farmers

 The federal government will introduce 200 rice milling machines to farmers across the nation, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Audu Ogbe has declared.
This, he said, would boost production of rice and ensure high quality of rice in the country.

Audu spoke to newsmen during the FG/IFAD Assisted Value Chain Development Programme Learning Route tagged ‘Maximise dry season production and innovative tools for value chain’ at the Kanko Rice Production Cluster in Wushishi Local Government of Niger state.


The minister, who was represented by his Senior Adviser International Donor Partners, Appeh Auta, expressed confidence Nigeria will soon achieve self-sufficiency in food production with ongoing efforts by agencies.

National Coordinator International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), Dr. Ameh Onoja, said N6 billion has been earmarked for rice production.

He added Nigeria has scaled up its rice production capacity to over 400 million metric tonnes through collective efforts of the federal government, IFAD/ Value Chain Development Programme and CBN Anchor Borrowers Scheme.

Onoja said this was achieved through the combined effort of 12 rice producing states, currently making Nigeria the second world largest producer of rice.

If the states embrace dry season farming, importation of the commodity would be a thing of the past, he assured.

He commended Niger state Government for paying the sum of N63.5m as part of its counter funding for the IFAD programme.

The Niger State IFAD Programme Coordinator, Dr. Mathew Ahmad said the purpose of the six states coming together under the IFAD programme was to allow for cross fertilisation of ideas to enhance rice production in the country.

He explained 300 hectares of rice had been cultivated by rice farmers in Kanko.
Last year, Ahmad stated Niger produced 15, 000 metric tonnes of paddy rice with production expected to increase to 25, 000 tonnes in 2017.

The Nation






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