Rice farmers
under the auspices of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, RIFAN, has assured
that in June 2017 a 50 kilogramme of rice bag will sell at N10,000. This
assurance was given by the National President of RIFAN, Aminu Goronyo, while
speaking on the current development in the rice industry, as he disclosed that
rice farmers now have direct access to fertiliser.
He said:
“Fertiliser was a very big challenge, but today it has become a history. We
have signed MoU where the fertiliser is sold N5,500 per bag of fertiliser, and
is now a government policy.
"We have
more fertiliser in the country and go direct to the hands of farmers and is
everywhere in the country. We have already achieved rice sufficiency in the
last two years because all the rice we eat is grown here in the country.
"With the
government through the Nigeria Customs Service on the land borders, including
the high exchange rate no importer can go to other countries and import rice
for profit. I assure you in the next three months a 50kg bag of rice will come
down to N10,000.
“The Anchor
Borrowers Scheme was conceived through collective effort by the Central Bank of
Nigeria, RIFAN and other relevant key stakeholders, and we are everyday meeting
with the CBN reviewing the process.”
However, the
rice farmers’ boss lamented inadequate rice seeds for his over 4.2 million
members.
“Seed is the
most essential component of any commodity that is going to be produced. We do
not have rice seeds in Nigeria. The few companies we have in the country do not
have the capacity to supply the quality and certified seeds we need. What we
have is grossly inadequate and not up to one percent of the need by Nigerian
farmers.
“I blame the
previous governments because for 30 years we don’t have enough certified
seeds."
0 Comments