National Wire About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories
Olabode Adaramola
The Federal Government is set to introduce 200 Rice Milling Machines to
farmers to further boost production of Rice in the Country, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbe has revealed.
Also, the National Coordinator International Fund for Agriculture
Development, IFAD, Dr. Ameh Onoja said N6 billion has been earmarked for Rice production.
The duo stated this in an interview during the FG/IFAD-Assisted Value Chain Development Programme, VCDP Learning Route tagged; Maximize Dry Season production and Innovative Tools for Value Chain a Pilot Visit to Niger State at Kanko Rice Production Cluster, Wushishi Local Government.
The minister, who spoke through his Senior Adviser International Donor
Partners, Mr. Appeh Auta said the milling machines would ensure production of high quality rice by farmers expressed firm belief that with the concerted efforts being made by both federal and state governments, the nation would achieve self-sufficiency, in food production.
IFAD national coordinator, Dr. Onoja said currently, 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 that has currently positioned Nigeria as the second world largest producer of Rice stressing that if, states embrace dry season farming, importation of the commodity would be a thing of the past.
He commended Niger state Government for paying the sum of N63.5m as part of its counterfund funding for the IFAD programme.
Also in his remarks at the ocassion, the Niger state Senior Programme
Coordinator, Dr. Mathew Ahmad stated that the purpose of the six states
coming together under the IFAD programme was to allow for cross
fertilization of ideas to enhance rice production in the country.
He explained that in Kanko alone a total of 300 hectares of rice had been
cultivated by Rice farmers, adding that in 2016, Niger produced 15, 000
metric tonnes of paddy rice, even as production is expected to increase to 25, 000 tonnes in 2017.
The states that participated in the pilot visit to Niger state to cross
fertilize ideas on increasing out include Ogun, Ebonyi, Benue, Taraba and Anambra.
