Agric Ministry,bank set up fund for rice producers

*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.