Some rice farmers in Nigeria have appealed to the Federal Government to help them facilitate rice production by giving them loans.
The farmers, who described the current border closure as a welcome development, spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday, October 28, 2019, and said that the current price of rice was too high.
Before the country’s border closure, the price of a 50kg bag of local rice was N14,000. It now stands at N22,000.
Mr. Egio Boniface, a rice farmer in Benue, said the loans from the government would increase productivity and called out the Buhari administration for not carrying them along before the closure of the border. He said an increase in rice production would lead to a decrease in the price of the commodity.
Before we can address the increase in the price of rice, farmers need to have prepared to boost their production through the cultivation of high-yield species. We are expecting that the government will give us loans to secure inputs on time to produce high-yield rice to reduce the cost for the benefit of Nigerians. We need the help of the government to help the rice farmers to break even.Egio Boniface – pmnewsnigeria.com
The Nasarawa State Chairman of Rice Millers and Dealers Association of Nigeria (RIMDAN), Mr. Adamu Ibrahim, said that the border closure would lead to a boost in rice production, revealing that the decision had led to the employment of women and youth involved in the processing of the commodity.
