The Special Adviser on Agriculture and Food Security to Osun State Governor, Mr Festus Agunbiade, says Nigeria spends over N600 billion annually to import food items.

Agunbiade said this in his key note address on the second day of the “Farmers Festival and Agric Show 2013” in Osogbo.

Reports say that the forum was organised by the Ministry of Agriculture for farmers in the state.

According to him, Nigeria is ranked the largest importer of frozen fish and the second largest importer of rice, spending about N356 billion on two million metric tonnes of milled rice annually.

He said that, “Nigeria is boosting the economy of countries where these importations are made, whereas we have vast agriculture potential to cater for our food needs.”

Agunbiade said the huge sum of money spent on importation should be invested in farming while the government could substitute food importation with domestic food production to create jobs.

He said such an option would significantly boost domestic food production in the country.

The aide said such a move, apart from creating employment opportunities for Nigerians in the agricultural sector, would equally boost the cash income of local farmers.

He, however, implored farmers in the state to rise up to the emerging challenges in food production.

Agunbiade said the government had no business in food importation as long as farmers were meeting food demands.