*Ogbeh promises
to organize rice fair
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh |
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
and Bank of Agriculture have set up a fund which they intend to manage to
support farmers, millers and marketers to bring down the price of rice. This
information was made available by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh during a meeting he had with rice farmers, millers
and processors in Abuja.
He said also that they intend to“organize rice fair
beginning in Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Port Harcourt and one or two other cities to
showcase the achievements of Nigerians in rice production” adding “There are
those who do not believe that Nigerian rice exists but we know they do and we
are very proud of the millers for their tenacity, investments and pains they
have gone through in the last few years in trying to respond to a national
call.”
Continuing, he said: “We have been discussing the modalities
to put in place to make sure that local rice sells much cheaper and that the
prices can fall to the levels of foreign rice and eventually, below the levels
of foreign rice. Every country in the world supports agriculture whether they
call it subsidy or support; it is exactly the same thing. We are happy that the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has agreed to bring down interest rates on agric
and manufacturing to one digit.”
He praised the tenacity of the producers, saying: “We cannot
say enough about Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), we are very proud
of you because there are those who didn’t believe it could happen so we thank
all of you.I want to convey to you the appreciation of not only the President
but also the Vice President, a nation does not thrive at an import bill of food
of 22 billion dollars a year.
He promised that the government would make available
flood-tolerant varieties“We have taken into account the suggestions by farmers
that we should look for varieties of rice that are flood tolerant, we will
activate our contacts and research institutes to see what we can do quickly and
we accept the commitments you have made as Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria
that as soon as the rains go down, you will go into new cropping so that some
of the residual water in land and irrigation facilities will give us another
harvest of rice in about 90 days to 120 days so we can supply rice to the
millers”
Ogbeh further noted that in two weeks time, the Bank of
Agriculture (BOA), and the millers would meet to see how rice milling would be
supported in order to have a low-cost rice during the Christmas season.
Speaking on rice smuggling, Chief Ogbeh said “we are aware
that they are still very busy and we want to assure you that not too long ago,
the President met with the President of Benin Republic and there were certain
discussions.
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