FG, FAO Support Rice Production With N324m
From Juliana Taiwo in Abuja
Federal Government in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have approved a budget of $232,000 (N324,800,000) to aid rice production in the Niger River Basin.
Minister of Water Resources, Alhaji Murktari Shehu Shagari, at the signing of the Technical Cooperation Programme project document, said the project was in line with Federal Government's programmes toward accelerated agricultural development, which is also closely linked with the current Presidential initiative on rice production that aims at import substitution and eventual rice exports.
Shagari said the project has been captured within the New Economic Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) to establish investment in land and water development as a first priority to attain food security.
"The main activity being implemented is the selection of sites from a number of available, but outdated studies, out of which two suitable schemes would be selected for implementation of Pilot Projects. The project is expected to achieve three main outputs namely, an analysis of existing project proposals, a synthesis of field verification of selected, more promising proposals and two fully updated and revised scheme proposals ready for investment," he added.
In his remark, the FAO representative in Nigeria, Mr. Joseph Johnson, who represented the Director-General of FAO, Dr. Jacques Diouf, noted that the Presidential Committee on Increased Rice Production and Exports, had prepared a comprehensive programme for Nigeria to attain self-sufficiency in rice and to eventually become a rice exporter in the medium term. He said when it is considered that Nigeria has been importing over 1.24 million tonnes of rice per annum in recent years, valued to over $256.0 million, the task to be achieved by the Presidential Committee is not an easy one.
He stressed that the fact that Nigeria is estimated to have 263km3 of surface water flowing to the sea annually, plus about 87km3 of ground water and many dams are estimated to have a capacity of 30.3km3 is a positive development.
"With this abundance of fresh water and over 61 million hectares of arable land, Nigeria really has the potential to be a major producer and exporter of rice. The FAO Director-General was therefore pleased to respond positively to the request of Federal Government to collaborate with it to accelerate rice production in the country and more specifically in the Niger Basin," he said.
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