FG establishes 15 new rice mills to boost production

The Federal Government has established 15 new rice mills across the country to boost local production of the commodity, the director of irrigation said.

Dr Andrew Efisue, the Director of Irrigation, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, made the disclosure on Monday at Lake Gerio, Adamawa, during a training session for dry season farmers.

Efisue said the establishment of the mills followed the government intention to ban the importation of rice and encourage local production.

He added that government embarked on massive dry season rice farming in order to meet up the demands of consumers.

The director said that rice production in the country would now be an all-seasons affair, adding that both dry and wet seasons would be utilised to meet demands.

He noted that two million rice farmers were being targeted across the country in the first phase of the dry season farmers training programme.

He said that under the dry season farming programme, farmers would be supplied with free improved rice seeds, while three bags of fertiliser and insecticide would be directly supplied to each farmer by the Federal Government at 50 per cent subsidised rate.

“In addition, government will supply registered farmers with water pump machines for the rice irrigation at 75 per cent subsidised rate,’’ Efisue said.

A Director in the Ministry of Agriculture in Adamawa, Dr Walia Hamman, said the state government had registered 13,000 rice farmers and would soon distribute water pumps to them.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that no fewer than 30 rice farmer associations are attending the two-day training. (NAN)