A farmer under the FG rice production scheme has expressed hopes that rice importation will stop
Malam Salisu said the scheme will achieve that in three years
He also expressed satisfaction with the federal and state governments’ efforts in encouraging farmers
Malam Salisu Umar is one optimistic farmer. He is one of those under the Federal Government rice production scheme and he has expressed hope that the Government’s rice production scheme will stop the massive importation of rice in Nigeria, in the next three years.
According to Salisu, the production scheme has the capacity to develop the rice value chain.
He also added that the scheme could guarantee food security in the country as well as create job opportunities and wealth for farmers and others interested in agri-business.
According to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) he said: “With this programme, rice farmers will develop the capacity to substitute foreign rice in Nigeria with paddy rice.
“I am sure that in the next two to three years this importation problem will reduce to a minimum.”
He expressed satisfaction with the federal and state governments’ efforts at encouraging farmers to specialise in the production of commodities for both domestic consumption and export.
The rice farmer advised the government at all levels to address the problems farmers face in accessing agricultural loans and procuring inputs such as fertiliser, herbicides, and pesticides.
Umar also stressed the need for government to carry farmer associations along in the formula.
Meanwhile a trend has been noticed among the Nigerian youth. These days rather than hustle to get white collar jobs, a large number of youths yearn to be their own bosses, building their own business from the ground up.
Many of them have decided to look into farming and other branches of Agriculture. There are quite a lot of examples of this.
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