Enugu Spends N403m On Rice Production

The Enugu State Government has trained 172 graduates and spent N403 million to boost rice production, according to Dr Eric Oluedo, the Commissioner  for Agriculture.

 Oluedo who made this known in an interview with newsmen  said N253 million was spent on training the graduates at Port

Novo, in Benin Republic, while N1 billion loan had been obtained to start commercial rice production.

He said the training was being implemented under the Songhai-Enugu Initiative aimed at doing away with subsistence farming.

“It is time to transform rice production to a competitive business by creating job and increasing sales and income through private sector-led agribusiness development,” he said.

He said that N150 million was released for the renovation of Ada Rice Mill in addition to laying water pipes to ensure adequate supply of water for all season farming.

The commissioner observed that Nigeria’s rice sector was dominated by weak and inefficient producer-market linkages due to poor infrastructure, low productivity and poor access to inputs.

“For the sector to stabilise, government must focus more on productivity to encourage competitiveness along with value-chain and also strengthen identified markets,” he said.

He explaine.d that renovation of the production process of the mill in Ada had made the state the hub of rice production in Nigeria.

According to him, government is also developing other sites in rice producing zones of Oduma, Amagbunze and Ugbokwa.

Oluedo, who identified irrigation as the major challenge militating against rice production in the state, expressed the hope that the challenge would be overcome.

He  said the government was concentrating on the rehabilitation and provision of rural infrastructure such as energy, roads, water and storage facilities to add value to agriculture production.