Isaac Anumihe , Okwe Obi, Abuja
Nigerian families may soon heave a sigh of relief as the Federal Government, said it is considering reducing the price of rice, ahead of the Christmas celebrations.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, stated this yesterday, when chairmen of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) across the country paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.
Local rice is currently sold at N18,000, while foreign rice goes for N17,000.
To achieve the planned reduction, Ogbeh said in the next two weeks, he will hold a meeting with RIFAN and other stakeholders to come out with strategies on how to reduce prices.
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“In two weeks time when we meet, between the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) and the millers, we will put in place a strategy to support rice milling so we can see what we can do to lower prices at Christmas.”
On the issue of flooding ravaging farmlands, Ogbeh disclosed government’s plan to purchase variety of rice that is flood-tolerant.
“We also acknowledge the fact that the floods have done a very terrible damage to rice fields, the water levels are so high, many rice farms have been flooded.
“We have taken into account the suggestions by farmers that we should look for varieties of rice that are flood tolerant.
We will activate our contacts and research institutes to see what we can do quickly and we accept the commitments you have made as RIFAN that as soon as the rains go down, you will go into new cropping so that some of the residual water in land and irrigation facilities will give us another harvest of rice in about 90 to 120 days.
RIFAN President, Aminu Goronyo, promised to address journalists after the next meeting.
Meanwhile, the Minister said the Federal Government has set aside an intervention fund to support rice farmers, millers and marketers to ensure a significant drop in the price of locally produced rice before the yuletide celebration and also enable citizens to feed well and cheaply.
Ogbeh said the decision was to enable the price of locally produced rice to fall as much as the imported ones.
“We applaud the decision by the Central Bank of Nigeria on interest rates but at the level of the ministry and Bank of Agriculture, we have set up a fund which we intend to manage to support both the farmers, millers and marketers to bring down the price of rice.
“We are concerned about the cost of rice for the Nigerian family. We want our people to feed well and feed cheaply but these things have to be managed carefully because we are dealing with public funds.
“We have been discussing the modalities to make sure that local rice sells much cheaper and that the prices can fall to the levels of foreign rice and eventually below the levels of foreign rice.’’
Ogbeh disclosed that the government would, in two weeks, organise a rice fair to create awareness for the consumption of locally produced rice in Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Port Harcourt, among others.
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He said the fair would also help to showcase achievements of Nigerians in rice production.
On the destruction of rice fields by flood, the minister said the government would commission the research institutes in the country to produce flood-tolerant rice seeds.
“We also acknowledge the fact that the floods have done a very terrible damage to rice fields, the water levels are so high, many rice farms have been flooded.
“We have taken into account the suggestions by farmers that we should look for varieties of rice that are flood-tolerant.
“We will activate our contacts and research institutes to see what we can do quickly.’’