TheCable

Rice farmers have appealed to the federal government to provide adequate incentives to enable them boost production.

Those who spoke to NAN in Lagos on Wednesday said government should compel its agencies to patronise locally produced rice.‎

They urged President Goodluck Jonathan to give directive to all ministries and departments to patronise firms that are into local rice production.

According to them, that would be the best measure to encourage local producers and stem rice importation.

A leading rice farmer, Bayo Adebayo, said government should take practical approach towards self sufficiency in rice production by assisting local rice farmers.

“Committed rice farmers are requesting to meet with the president and decision-makers to discuss how to implement practical solutions to support the rice sector.

“This approach will make all rice importers to embrace backward integration.

“Those that bring vessels to neighbouring countries and smuggle the commodity into the country should be treated as saboteurs,” he declared.

A rice dealer, Odion Egbele, said that Nigeria had not done much in making stable food available and affordable.

He said the nation has all it takes to produce food crops to meet the demands of its  growing population.

According to him, ‎local‎ rice cultivation is capable of providing livelihood for many producers, processors and vendors in Nigeria.

“The country spends so much on rice importation, such that it is the world’s second largest rice importer,” Egbele said.

He noted that the cost of these rice imports represents a significant amount of lost earnings for the country in terms of jobs and income. ‎

“Nigeria has vast arable land and lots of water to plant rice.‎

“The present administration must understand that if we continue to import rice, we will go bankrupt soon,” he said.

‎The vice president of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, Segun Atho, advised state governments to facilitate land documents as part of efforts to boost local rice productions.

He also wants them to embrace public private partnership (PPP) in the agricultural sector.

“This is the surest way to address issues bothering on land for farming,” he said.‎

He said that despite support policies, the Nigerian rice-growing sector could not keep up with the needs of local consumers because of poor implementation.