TheCable

Rice farmers have appealed to the federal government to maintain the ban on rice importation, saying this would boost local production.

Jamilu Ibrahim, chairman of rice farmers in Daura, Katsina state, said this in an interview with NAN on Monday.

He said maintaining the ban would protect farmers and boost local rice consumption in the country.

He said the farmers would increase their production capacity and sell at affordable prices.

“In Nigeria, we have fertile land in no fewer than 25 states where rice can be produced in large quantities for local consumption,” he said.

While Ibrahim praised government’s intervention in the agricultural sector, he also reached out to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to open up more opportunities to grant loans to local rice farmers in the country.

“The CBN should continue with the anchor borrower programme that was introduced to assist local rice farmers with loans,” he said.

“The programme has assisted farmers in producing rice in large quantities during the 2017 farming season.

“We are now set to go back to our farms for the production of rice during the dry season farming.”