Local rice production in the country has now reached 15 million metric tonnes annually, the government has claimed. According to it, the development means the country will now be saving about N300 billion it used to spend annually on importation of the commodity. Director of Agriculture at the Kano offi ce of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Muhammad Adamu, made the claim yesterday, while inaugurating the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria (RIMAN) in the state. He said in Kano alone, 1.2 million metric tonnes of rice was produced in 2016.
He said with the signifi cant increase in local productions and the eff orts to make the local variety qualitative and more attractive to Nigerians, the country expects to begin exporting rice to West African countries by 2018/2019. Adamu said about 34 states in the country were producing rice, with many now producing three times in a year. He disclosed that investigation carried out by the federal government revealed that rice imported to Nigeria were 10-15 years old and were preserved with chemicals which can cause cancer to consumers.
In his remarks, the chairman of the Board of Directors of Rice Miller’s Association, Peter Dama, said the association was established to promote local milling of rice that was fresh, healthy and nutritious. He said the association “is willing to collaborate with the Nigeria Customs Service to stem smuggling of expired rice into Nigeria.” Dama added that the association intended to work closely with regulatory agencies and policymakers to ensure standard in local rice milling. Th e Customs offi cer in charge of rice enforcement, Ado Hassan, warned that Customs offi cers caught conniving with rice smugglers would have themselves to blame. He said in less than one year, the zonal command of the agency confi scated 800,000 bags of rice in Kano and Jigawa states. He said about 9000 bags of the rice are still in the stores of the agency, adding that most of the rice was being given to internally displaced persons after been certifi ed fi t for consumption by the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC). (Premium Times
