From Saka Bolaji, Minna
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 Ogbeh, has revealed.
Also, the National Coordinator, International Fund for Agriculture Development, IFAD, Dr. Ameh Onoja, has said that 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, expressing the firm belief that with the concerted efforts being made by both the federal and state governments, the nation would achieve self-sufficiency in food production.
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 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 the Niger state Government for paying N63.5m as part of its counterpart fund for the IFAD programme.
Niger 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 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.
States which participated in the pilot visit to Niger state for cross-fertilisation of ideas on increasing output include Ogun, Ebonyi, Benue, Taraba and Anambra.
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